NGE: The long weird way to be a hero
by RedShadow64
Summary: If somebody told you, that I’m just an ordinary, average guy, with not a care in the world...then that somebody is a stalker...
1. Default Chapter

**_NGE: THE LONG, WEIRD WAY TO BE A HERO…_**

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 01 "Shin-man is in da house!"**

"Damn, what a day!"

It was a hot and sunny summer day in Tokyo-3 It was a beautiful day, yet nobody was apparently in the city. Apart from a really bored looking 14 years old boy who goes by the name of Shinji Ikari. He was sitting on the sidewalk, wearing a pair of black commando style trousers, construction worker like black boots and a plain grey T-shirt. His long hair was tied back into a ponytail, and a dark blue baseball cap topped his head, with the Nike logo on its front and the 'Just do it' logo emblazoned on its side.

_"Damn it, this really isn't my day. First I get hungry and the phones turned out to be dead, then my Discman's batteries went dead. I most have been doped when I came to this dead city, I wonder what else could go wrong?" _he thought as he yawned

And as if on cue, a missile came out of nowhere, followed by the sound of explosions, disturbing the calm of the scene.

"What th..." he exclaimed as he stood, but was cut off by a sight that he thought existed only in the old 60's movies or in animes. There it was, a huge dark green humanoid monster, with bone looking plates on its shoulders and a red orb in its chest, protected with what appeared to be its ribs.

"I had to ask, I just had to ask..." Shinji whispered as he mentally thanked god that he didn't have anything to eat that morning; otherwise he would need a change of underwear.

A lot of aircraft were surrounding it, in a vain attempt to stop it, but the monster just disposed of them like bugs. One of them started firing its machine guns at the thing's face, but this only appeared to piss it off, because it simply raised a hand to the offending object and impaled it with a light spear that came of its arm.

Shinji could only watch in shock as the aircraft was crushed right in front of him

_"Damnit Damnit Damnit Damnit! I need to get the hell out of here!!"_ he thought as he desperately looked around for an escape route. Then in the distance, he spotted a blue car that was dashing in his direction.

"Hey! Hey! Over here!"

_"that must be him..."_ the driver thought as she saw a boy frantically waving his arms, "of course he is, who else would be crazy enough to be here at this time!"

The car stopped abruptly in from of him, and then the door opened, revealing a purple haired woman in a black dress. Shinji couldn't help but look her up and down, staring at the curves of her body, "Are you Shinji Ikari?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah"

"Hop in, there's no time!" He did so and soon they raced from the area, right before the monster landed on top of the aforementioned aircraft.

Eventually they got a good distance from the city, and watched the battle from the windows of the car

"Excuse me, miss...?" Shinji asked the woman while she was looking at the monster with a pair of binoculars.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi, but you can call me Misato"

"Right, miss Misato, sorry for asking but...What the hell is that thing!"

"Well...that's an Angel" She said, with doubt in her voice.

"...What?"

"That's their code name; I don't really know why they're called that but..."

"But what? What's going on?" Shinji asked at her sudden silence.

"Oh shit, they're going to use a N2 mine. Get down!" Before he could say anything Misato pinned him to the floor of the car, as the shockwave of the explosion sent it flying away.

When the car finally stopped, they literally climbed out of the side of the vehicle.

"Damn, those were some cool fireworks!" said Shinji in a somewhat too cheerful tone. On the other hand, Misato wasn't in the same humour as her young charge, first of all her favourite dress was ruined, second her car was a wreck, and above all, she was really behind schedule. If she didn't hurry, a certain cranky doctor was going to be very mad at her, to say the least, so she decided to just ignore him.

"Hey, are we going to stay here all day or what?" Shinji finally asked the spaced out woman

"Ah, what? Oh yes, we'll leave in a minute, just give me a hand with the car, and we'll be on the road again!"

"...Ok"

"Good! Now come over here and we'll push at the count of three. Ready?"

"Yeah"

"Ok, one...two..."

"Three!" They both shouted while they pushed the stopped car back on its four wheels

"Good job, Shinji, it seems that you're useful for something!"

"..Err...I'll take that as a compliment" said the slightly annoyed boy

Finally, they were on the road again, Misato was dashing across the deserted streets avoiding collapsed posts, garbage cans, and other stuff that were displaced by the explosion's shockwave.

"...err...Miss Misato, d-don't you think you should go a bit slower? I-I know the road is empty, but still..." Asked Shinji while mentally praying that the seatbelts were still working.

"Don't worry, I'm a trained officer and I have to make sure to deliver you safe!" answered the cheerful captain.

"Yeah...right...Hey! Have you ever consider joining a demolition derby racing club heh heh! I'm sure you could win some tournaments."

_"Is that so...i'll show him" _the purple haired woman thought angrily as she started to perform some weird looking manoeuvres with the car.

"No, wait. I was just kidding! Stop it! Oh God, we're gonna die!!!" the poor boy's screams could be heard echoing through the tunnel that lead to their destination.

Eventually, they made it to the end of the tunnel, stopping in front of an armoured door with the NERV logo printed on it. Misato reached across to a card reader and swiped her ID through it, making the door open and allowing them access to the car elevator.

"Damn, this thing is endless! Hey, Miss Misato, how long will this take?" Shinji asked after a little while.

"Hey, just call me Misato; the whole _"miss"_ thing makes me feel old. And don't worry we are almost there. By the way, you should start reading this" she said while reaching for some kind of booklet before handing it to her passenger.

"NERV, huh"  he said out loud while flipping through the pamphlet "So, this is were the 'old fart' has been hiding?"

"It seems that you don't get along with your dad, right?"

"You can say that again. Besides, you can't expect a warm-hearted relationship with someone you haven't seen in, shall we say, your whole life, right?" He said with a light chuckle

"Yeah, I can relate to that...oh, look! We're there now!"

Shinji looked through the window, and, for the second time that day, was left speechless.

It was a huge cavernous space, yet it looked like it was taken from a Sci-Fi movie. Artificial light illuminated the whole place, there was some kind of forest down below and there were also buildings hanging from the ceiling. And at the centre of the cavern was a pyramid with the NERV logo painted on its side.

"That's the Geo-Front" Said Misato to the amazed boy "The last stronghold of mankind against the angels...and our last hope of survival"

Shinji's brain was on overload with information right now, and could only mutter "...wow..."

A few moments later, they were walking through the halls of NERV HQ. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"I think we're lost"

"SHUT UP!"

The same conversation had been going on since they entered the base, and each time she became more and more annoyed, right now she was just about to explode.

Shinji noticed this a long time ago and was, to say the least, enjoying it greatly.

"I think we're lost" the mischievous boy said once again.

And that was the last straw...

The angered woman spun around and grabbed Shinji by the collar of his shirt, their faces were inches apart, and she had a 'ready to kill' look in her eyes

"Look kid" Misato said as she began to shake him "If you say that one more time, just _one_ more time I..."

"You're going to do what Captain Katsuragi?"

Misato looked back over her shoulder and quickly released the gasping and slightly dizzy boy. Behind her was a blonde woman around her age, she was wearing a lab coat and seemed very angry "I can't believe you Misato, you know we're short in time and man power, and you're giving this kid a tour through the base?"

"Sorry Ritsu, you know I'm not very used to this place yet" replied the ashamed officer.

"Ah ha! I _knew_ we were lost!"  Yelled Shinji after recovering his sense of balance.

Misato was about ready to kill again, the other woman noticed this and quickly interfered before something happened.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, you most be Shinji Ikari, am I right?"

"Yes I am!" replied the way to happy kid "it's nice to meet you Dr. Rits!"

_"So cheerful, how unlike him" _Thought the doctor at the young man's attitude

"We're late so please follow me"

"Sure, you seem to know this place better than my former guide!" Said 'guide' was now really furious

_"I can't believe it; my best friend and this...kid...are laughing at me!" _the fuming captain said to herself _"Oh well; if you can't beat them..."_ And with that, she started lo laugh as well.

Eventually, the group ended up in front of a large door. Dr. Akagi entered a code into a keypad by the door, causing it to open. She then led the group into the dark room beyond.

"Hey, what's going on here!?" Shinji asked, he had a really bad feeling that something was going to happen. He was about to ask again when suddenly all the lights came on. After he adjusted his eyes to the change, the poor kid was, for the third time, surprised. He was in a huge cage-like place; it was flooded with a reddish liquid and there was a huge robot head protruding from the pool with a sharp horn on its forehead. Then he stared into its eyes, he could have sworn that the thing looked back at him, directly into his soul, he could feel a burning sensation deep within himself, as if the monster was calling him.

"Hey, Shinji, you in there?" Said Misato waving her hand in front of the spaced out boy.

"What? When? Wh..." he trailed of before staring again at the titan before him, this time keeping his concentration. He reached for his backpack and grabbed the booklet that Misato gave him earlier, as he started looking through it Ritsuko spoke.

"You won't find it in there" she said "That is the ultimate war machine in the battle against the angels" She explained getting excited by each phrase. "This, is the artificial life form known as Evangelion, Unit 01!" she said in a very dramatic way, "Built here in secret, this is mankind's last hope"

"Amazing" said Shinji after the Doctor's speech, "Too bad 'bout the colour scheme, is this the commander work?"

"That is correct!" A voice boomed through the room. Everybody turned to see Commander Gendo Ikari watching ominously from a platform above the head of Unit 01. Everybody, minus one.

"Ha! I knew it, the Old Fart _never_ had a sense of style!" Said Shinji, completely ignoring the fact that his father's eyes were staring directly at him with a dangerous looking frown on his face. Everybody in the room was getting very nervous right now, they had seen people 'disappear' just by sneezing near the commander, and now this kid comes out of nowhere and start rambling a _lot_ of embarrassing facts about their boss and his fashion sense. On the other hand Ritsuko was greatly amused with this display; she never thought that somebody could have the guts to speak about the commander like this, but she knew he couldn't dispose of Shinji, he was too important to the scenario. Said commander was now really pissed, so he decided to make his presence know again

"Do you know why I have called you here" asked Gendo in a somber tone.

"To go to a father and son fishing trip?"

"...No" Gendo said, getting annoyed.

"To ask me forgiveness for being an irresponsible parent?"

"No" Gendo said, getting mad.

"To give me money?"

"No!" Gendo said, getting furious.

"Then I don't know."

"I have called you because I have a use for you, now, do it, or leave!"

"Such a great dad, calls me out of the blue to do some kind of job and doesn't even bother to tell me what it is, isn't it wonderful?" Shinji said not hiding his sarcasm.

"Target approaching, all units to battle stations! Target approaching, all units to battle stations!"

The speakers roared, alarming everyone. At that moment an explosion shook the base violently, causing the people to panic.

"It is near, it must sense us" muttered Gendo to himself. "Quick, get the Evangelion ready to launch!" He yelled in an attempt to calm down the people.

"What!" Yelled Misato at the order "But Unit 00 is still in cryostasis! Don't tell me..." she gasped as she realised the facts "You are going to use Unit-01, But Rei is injured! We have no pilot!"

"We just received one" Dr. Akagi calmly responded

 "What! You are planning to use him!" The doctor simply nodded.

"B-But he just got here!"

"I..." Shinji said.

"There's no one else who can" Ritsuko said back, interrupting him.

"List..." Shinji tried again.

"It took Rei months to be able to synchronize with her Eva! There's no way he can do it!" Misato protested.

"I'll d..."

"Look, we just need him to sit in the plug, nothing else, besides, there is no time left. Do you understand that, Captain Katsuragi?" Replied the doctor, finally losing her patience.

"Yeah but..." The captain tried to argue.

"Will you two just shut up and listen to me for a second!" Shinji roared.

Both women turned, shocked at the boy's sudden outburst

"I said I'm gonna do it! Damnit" He finally said, calming himself "I mean, I have a chance to save the world, to be part of something important" he said getting excited. "And...I get to pilot a giant robot!"

Everybody stared oddly at the kid's statement, wondering how he could treat the situation so lightly.

Ritsuko was about to bark out some orders to get the Eva ready when another explosion rocked the place. It was stronger than the last one, strong enough to bring down part of the ceiling, conveniently above Shinji.

_"Oh fuck!" _

Shinji was paralyzed, the world seemed to go in slow motion as the tubes and lamps were falling down towards him, the only thing he could do was cover himself with his arms and pray that the end came to him painlessly. When nothing happened he slowly opened his eyes and looked up, a huge purple hand was shielding him from the bricks. He stared at the purple titan, and once again he felt caught in its eyes, he could feel the burning sensation in his soul, it was more intense this time, it was calling him, and he was willing to respond.

"W-What the hell happened!?" Asked Misato still lying on the ground because of the explosion, then she looked at the scene in front of her. Shinji was once again spaced out and the massive hand of Unit 01 was above him. "D-Did Unit 01 just activated itself!?"

"It can't be!" Shouted the incredulous doctor. "The entry plug wasn't even inserted! There wasn't any power connected to it! It's just not possible!"

"It was him" Misato whispered. "It must be because of him" Then she remembered what was going on and ran to the staring boy. "Shinji! Shinji! Are you Ok!?" she asked, shaking him to get him out of his trance.

 "Ah, what? Y-yeah, I'm fine" He replied "There's no time, get me inside that thing, we have no time to lose!"

"O-Ok, follow me" Misato responds, a bit surprised at the seriousness of his voice

"By the way, you can't take your hat in there" she said in a business tone.

He then proceeded to remove it, and handed it to the captain "Please watch it for me, it's my lucky charm"

"Sure, no problem" Said Misato as she watched Shinji walk with some techs towards the entry plug. _"Please don't die on us kid"_ And with that she headed to the command bridge.

"Maya, Status report!" yelled the captain now in full business mode

"Removing primary and secondary restraints, inserting entry plug" The short, brown haired woman replied.

The neck of the Eva opened up allowing the plug to be inserted.

"Wow, this is awesome" Shinji said gripping the controls in excitement.

"Filling entry plug" the young technician's voice could be heard through the plug's inter comm.

"Fill it? What?" Shinji was getting worried, with what could they fill a thing like this? He looked down and his eyes widened in fear when an orange, stinking liquid quickly occupied the space. When the liquid finally reached his head, he could only hold his breath.

"Don't worry Shinji, once your lungs are filled with LCL your blood will be oxygenated directly, you'll get used to this" The voice of Dr. Akagi said.

"Now you tell me" was his weak answer.

"Oh, stop complaining and act like a man!" Misato ordered annoyed by the boy's attitude.

"Hmph I'd like to see you in my shoes, beside, this thing stinks like a rotten cow! From what kind of corpse did you get this thing from!?"

Both the doctor and the commander seemed to cringe at the statement, but nobody noticed. The blond woman just shrugged and continued with the procedure.

"Start synchronization sequence!" In the entry plug the walls began to change to a rainbow of colours until the view of the outside could be seen.

"Awesome, It's like a VR video game!" Shinji said excitedly.

"Maya give me the pilot's status" Ritsuko ordered.

"All systems are nominal, psychological readings are stable, synch ratio at 41.3%"

"Amazing!" said the doctor watching over the shoulder of her young pupil

"All circuits seem normal, we're ready to launch"

"Good, everything is ready!" Ritsuko said turning to Misato.

The captain looked over to the commander who had his elbows resting on his desk and his hands folded in front of his face.

"Commander, are you sure about him, about all this?"

"Of course" he said in a cold voice "There is no one else who can."

With that Misato turned again to the screen and saw Shinji with an excited grin on his face and his hands practically tickling the controls.

"Moving Eva to launching catapult #3, launch path clear, we're ready to go"

Said Maya, interrupting the captain's thoughts

_"Okay, here goes nothing," _Misato sighed mentally_"_ "EVA Launch!"

And with that the huge platform shut up through the tunnel leaving sparks along its trail.

"Woohoo, this is better than a roller coaster! Yeah!" When he finally stopped he could only say "Damn, it surely stops like one..."

In the command bridge everybody looked dumbfounded at the dizzy, whirly-eyed kid; Misato raised her hand to her forehead and could only mutter in frustration

"We're so dead..."

**To be continued...**

Any comment or opinion just let me know. Until next time!


	2. C2

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 02: "Psycho Shinji awakes"**

"Woohoo, this is better than a roller coaster! Yeah!" When he finally stopped he could only say "Damn, it sure stops like one..."

In the command bridge everybody looked dumbfounded at the dizzy, whirly-eyed kid. Misato raised her hand to her forehead and could only mutter in frustration "We're so dead..."

Dr. Akagi managed to hear her, but decided not to comment. Instead she turned back to Shinji and said "Shinji, listen to me, concentrate on walking for now."

"Wwaalkyy!" Said the light-headed boy, slowly moving the controls forward.

The robot obeyed taking a shaky step forwards; looking almost like it was drunk.

"It's walking!" Everybody in the command bridge was in an uproar, finally all their efforts were making progress, mankind had a chance for survival now...

"It's falling..." Everybody silently watched as the ultimate war machine, tumbled down face first onto the pavement.

Shinji suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his face, which brought him back to his senses. "Damn! What the hell happened!?" He said as he rubbed his nose.

"Shinji, be careful. Because of your synch ratio with the Eva, you will feel what it feels to a certain degree."

"Why do I have to learn everything the hard way 'round here!"

Meanwhile, the angel had made its way through the city, and was standing directly in front of the Evangelion, it could feel a familiar presence inside it, but it was different at the same time, something had tainted that presence. It couldn't be the lillium inside that thing; it was something else, something dark. But that wasn't important right now; the thing had to be destroyed to fulfil its destiny of joining with the father. And when the purple monster fell, the angel moved to attack.

Misato saw this and shouted to the young pilot. "Shinji quick! Move out of the way!"

But it was already too late. As Shinji looked up he saw the Angel's hand just in front of the Eva's face. The creature's fingers wrapped around the purple machine's head, before it lifted the whole Evangelion up into the air like a rag doll.

Then the angel grabbed the Eva's left arm and pulled it with all its might trying to tear it off. "AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" The pain was unbearable; Shinji could feel how the angel crushed the Eva's arm as if was his own

"Shinji, calm down, that's not your real arm!" Maya said in a vain attempt to help him.

"Tell...That...To...My brain!!!" He yelled. He knew he wasn't really getting hurt, but the sensation was way too real for his liking.

Finally, with a loud crack, the angel managed to twist the Eva's arm, but, still not satisfied with it, pierced the broken limb with its light spear, completely shattering the remains of the bone.

"D-Damn it..." Shinji thought as he held his arm. "I can't feel my hand! This damn thing is killing me! I've got to...AAAAHHH!!!" He screamed when he felt like something was crushing his head "W-What...n-now..." He though as he saw the centre of his enemy's hand was starting to shine.

The command bridge was soon filled with the pained screams of the pilot as the angel pounded the Eva's right eye with its lance.

"There is a crack in the head armour!" yelled a long haired tech named Shigeru.

"The brain case is breaking, it won't take much more!" reported his colleague Makoto.

After that, the spear went through the Eva's head, impaling it to a nearby building, with the Eva's head spraying blood through both of its sides.

"Maya, give me the pilot's status!" said Misato, concern was evident in her voice.

"Neural connections reversing! Synch ratio dropping! Unable to read pilot's life signals!"

"_Damn, there's no choice"_ thought Misato as she watched the situation "The life of the pilot is top priority, eject the entry plug!"

"I can't, its rejecting the signal!" Yelled Maya.

"What did you say!?" Said the captain while looking at the young tech's screen.

"T-The Eva is reactivating itself!" Shouted Makoto as he turned to the main screen

Everybody watched silently as the giant mecha slowly stood up.

"Its...Its..." Misato couldn't finish the sentence; she was fearing the worst, a reprise of Unit 00's activation.

"Berserker..." Ritsuko finished for her friend, also, with concern and fear in her voice.

"Ma'am, we're receiving readings from the pilot!" Yelled Maya, breaking the silence, and getting the bridge's attention.

"What!?" Shouted the doctor.

"His cardiac pulse is increasing the same as the adrenaline levels in his blood! His psychological readings are completely out of control!" Said the doctor's pupil watching the readings at her terminal.

"Give me a visual!" Ordered Misato, turning once again to the main screen.

Soon, after a bit of static, they could see the insides of the entry plug. Shinji was gripping tightly the controls, his body trembling in a mix of pain and anger. His head was lowered with his hair covering his eyes.

"Captain, the pilot's synch ratio is rising!" said Maya as she stared in shock at her terminal.

"W-What does it say?" asked Misato, still looking at the main screen.

"It's oscillating around 60.35%" said quietly the young woman, as she turned to her superior.

Ritsuko was about to say something when a laugh interrupted her. Everyone turned again to the main screen. Shinji was slowly raising his head; he had a feral grin on his face and an equally wild look in his dark blue eyes, a complete opposite to his previous childish façade.

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha" He started laughing louder this time. His voice was also different, almost as if somebody else was speaking through him. "Ha Ha He He...I...Ha Ha I..." he trailed of sounding crazier by the second. "Ha Ha...I...I...I'll tear you apart!!! Hahahaha!!!" He finally snapped. And, at that same moment, Unit 01 raised its head, its mouth restrains broke, exposing its blood red teeth, and its bestial war cry echoed through the night.

The angel watched silently as the purple beast stood up again and slowly raised its broken arm, regenerating its bone and flesh. The angel, saw that its opponent still wanted more, and shot its cross beam at the mecha, destroying the buildings and the street in its wake. When the smoke cleared Unit 01 was still standing, its armor was charred, but it didn't care. With another mighty roar, the Eva launched itself towards its enemy landing on top of it. Both titans were dueling to dominate the other, crushing houses and cars while they rolled on the ground. The angel tried to use its spears, but Unit 01 grabbed its wrists before the lances were fully extended, they struggled until Unit 01 broke both of the angel arms. "Hahaha!!! Yes! Scream for me, you bastard!!! Hahaha!!!" Yelled Shinji as his enemy cried in pain.

In the command bridge, everybody stared in fear and shock as their creation mercilessly pounded his enemy and its pilot's maniacal laughter filled the room.

"W-What the hell is going on" Said Misato as she turned to her friend

"I-I really don't know" said Ritsuko, lowering her head "But, at the risk of sounding un-professional...I think they're both berserker." She said as she turned once again towards the stunned captain.

The angel, desperate to free itself, raised its AT-field knocking the possessed beast off and allowing it to stand up again.

The purple Eva landed a few meters away from its prey. "Oh! C'mon! You don't want to play some more!? Hahaha!!!" Shinji roared as he motioned his machine to dart towards the angel, only to slam once again into its AT-field.

Shinji was on the ground once again, but he didn't care, the Eva rushed once more at his enemy while he raised his own AT-field. It slammed against the angel's shattering it like it was made of glass, not stopping there, he tackled the angel to the ground and the Eva began pounding again on the angel's core.

The angel could feel its life force draining with each blow. It was humiliating, this lillium was defeating it. But it wasn't going alone, as a last resort to destroy the purple beast it raised its arms and legs and attached itself to the Eva.

"It's going to self-destruct!" Shouted Dr. Akagi as she watched the angel's core start shining.

"Shinji move out of the way! Now!" Yelled Misato through the inter comm., but he ignored her.

"Hahaha!!! Bring It!!! Hahaha!!!" He said as his Eva bear-hugged the angel and its core started to shine even more brightly.

A huge cross shaped explosion spiraled to the night sky soon afterwards, illuminating the city for a few moments.

"Main surface cameras damaged, switching to back-up cameras" said a tech after the shockwave damaged their outside view.

"Cameras back on line" Said another tech. When they turned to the screen, they were completely speechless. Most of the buildings were in ruins and on fire. The streets were a total wreck.

"What about the Eva?" whispered Misato, as she stared at the blazing scene of the once main street of Tokyo-3. A loud roar answered her. Everyone stared in awe as the Eva silently walked out of the area, as if it was a demon coming from the fires of hell. Its horn was broken; its right shoulder wing was missing and its only remaining eye shone ominously in the night.

"Are you sure we can control this power, Ikari" Said Sub-commander Fuyutsuki as he approached his colleague. The supreme commander of NERV only smirked.

Finally, the Eva stopped next to one of the few standing buildings in the area.

"_Damn, what a headache..."_ Shinji thought as he rubbed his forehead, completely ignoring a voice from the inter comm. saying something about his life signs and the Eva status. A sudden metallic noise got his attention, looking down, he saw the upper part of the Eva's helmet was on the ground, then looking to his side, he saw the robot's reflection, only the lower jaw remained of the armor. He stared at the thing's head, it was brown and fleshy, and some cables and devices were attached to it, there was a hole in the place where the eye used to be. Suddenly, large fleshy bumps formed along the hole, and slowly they reformed the surface of it's face and it's newly formed eyelid slid open, revealing a dark green eye whose, to Shinji's amazement the pupil contracted to reveal three slightly smaller secondary pupils spaced equally around the main one.. It stared back at him, almost as if it knew that he was in there. "Damn, this thing sure is butt ugly..." Said Shinji before blacking out due exhaustation.

When Shinji awoke he found himself in a hospital room _"Damn, how did I get in here..."_ he thought as he studied his surroundings, he quickly got dressed and exited the room. In the hallway he saw a group of nurses pushing a stretcher with a girl around his age in it. She had short hair and had bandages over her right eye and arm, he couldn't recognize her features because of the hospital's lights, but she seemed to be staring at him. "Get well!" he said as the nurses carried her to her room.

Eventually, he made it to the lobby of the hospital where he was greeted by Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi.

"Hey Shinji! Are you ok?" Asked Misato.

"Hmm yeah, I'm fine. A bit tired, but other than that, I'm Ok" Replied the boy with a smile.

"Good, because I would like to ask you a few questions about yesterday." the Doctor Intervened.

"...Ok..." he shrugged as he followed her and Misato filed the forms to release him.

"Ok Shinji. Do you remember anything about the battle?" Asked Dr. Akagi once they were in one of the hospital rooms.

"Well, not much. I remember that the angel was kicking my ass, then I was rolling in the ground with it and an explosion, the rest of it is all blurry" He answered as he scratched the back of his head.

"Shinji" The blonde said "According to the Magi, after the angel 'knocked you out' your synch ratio started to drop, and then abruptly came up again, way higher that your original one. Do you have any idea of what may have caused it?"

"How should I know? Maybe survival instincts or something like that. Are we done yet? I'm tired and I would really like to get some shut eye you know" He told her with pleading eyes.

"Ok" sighed the doctor. "Misato probably already filled out your release forms by now" She said as she stood up and walked out of the room followed by Shinji.

"Hey, Misato, do you know where I'll be staying?" Asked Shinji as he yawned.

"That's what we're going to find out, please follow me" Said the cheery woman.

"Oh no, here we go again..." Sighed the boy.

Eventually, after Dr. Akagi led them down the proper path, they parted ways, and Misato, alongside with Shinji, arrived at one of the NERV personnel's location office.

"Ikari, Shinji" said the agent in charge. "You'll be living in the new underground F section"

"Cool!" replied the ever smiling kid.

"Are you sure Shinji, are you ok with this?" Asked the Captain.

"Yeah!" replied Shinji. "I don't mind being alone. The feeling of independence and all that stuff. I'm cool with it."

Misato, on her part just gave him a concerned look. "Excuse me" she said referring to the agent. "I would like to make a new arrangement..."

"What did you say!?" Yelled an angry doctor Akagi through the telephone.

"Calm down Ritsu..." Said the poor captain "I said that he is gonna live with me, it's already been approved so there is no problem. And don't worry; I won't try any moves on him." She said in a playful tone.

"The hell you won't!!!" shouted the short tempered blonde "Don't you have any shame at all!? I can't believe you even suggest something like that!"

"Damn, some people don't have any sense of humor..." said the slightly scared officer as she put the phone away from her ears.

Shinji wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. "Hey, Misato!" he shouted "How many body lotion bottles did you said!?"

"What the hell did I just hear!?" screamed the now very angry doctor "I knew I couldn't trust in you! I could easily get you suspended for something like this!"

Misato quickly hung up the phone to escape from the ranting of the other woman, giving her soon to be new roommate a dirty glare as he laughed his ass off on the ground. She felt somehow relieved to hear him back to normal after his performance last night. "Come on, we have some things to do before going home" she said walking past him "Oh! I almost forget, here, this is yours." She said as she put forcefully yet playfully his hat on his head.

"Sorry 'bout that, I just couldn't resist"

"Don't worry Shinji" She said without turning back "I'll get you for that...eventually"

"Where are we going again?" Shinji asked to his new guardian as she drove through the still empty streets.

"We're going to get some stuff, and then we'll have a little welcome party for my new roommate" She replied.

"Oh, ok just wake me up when we're there" he said as he reclined his seat and covered his face with the peak of his hat.

Eventually, after a little stop at the grocery store, they arrived at a spot overlooking Tokyo-3.

"This is a nice place, but it's a bit plain. Don't you think?" Shinji asked as he watched the scene in front of him. The sun was setting creating a beautiful mix of colors in the sky, and yet, everything seemed empty, almost lifeless.

"Any second now" Said Misato ignoring her young charge's question.

"What do yo...?" He said before being interrupted by the sound of alarms and machinery moving. "Wow..." he muttered as he leaned forwards on the railing.

"That is Tokyo-3, this is our home, and the city that you saved" She said smiling warmly as the young kid beside her watched amused how the city raised to its full glory.

It was already nightfall when they arrived at the apartment complex that they would be sharing from now on.

"I just moved here a few days ago you know" Said Misato as she entered the apartment "Please put the food on the fridge and then we'll make some..." She trailed of when she noticed her young charge was still outside the door "Hey Shinji, what's wrong?"

"I don't think this is a good idea, I mean, I really don't want to be a bother"

"Shinji, this is your home too, c'mon in. Or, Are you afraid to live with a beautiful woman?" She teased while flashing a little pose and winking.

Shinji then crossed the door, took a deep breath and said "Honey! I'm home!"

"Welcome home" The captain giggled "It may be a bit messy, but try to make yourself comfy"

Shinji's eyes widened at the sight before him, there were trash bags piled in the corner of the kitchen, all the furniture was stained and in disarray, beer cans and other alcoholic drinks bottles were scattered everywhere, in his eyes there was only one way to describe it "Awesome!"

"W-What?"

"C'mon, look at this place!" Said the excited kid "It must have been a hell of a party last night to leave a dump like this! I can't wait for the next one!"

Misato remained silent, giving him an apologetic look.

"Don't tell me..." he said with a raised eyebrow "You drank all that?"

"W-Well...I..." She trailed of before escaping to her room to avoid any more questions.

"Great" He said "I could be living in a nice apartment just for me, without having to give reasons to anyone, cleaning other people trash and stuff, but nooo, I let a pretty face cloud my judgment..." he rambled after making some space for the food in the beer-stuck fridge "Damn puberty!" he shouted when he started cleaning a bit his new home. Eventually, Misato got out of her room wearing a very loose sleeveless shirt and denim hotpants and heated a few instant meals.

"Oh Yeah!!! This is what makes life good!!!" Yelled Misato after drinking half a can of her beer in one go.

"You sure have some healthy habits..." Shinji said unenthusiastically while forming a pyramid with some empty cans.

"Shut up!" She said sticking her tongue out. "Well, now that we're over with dinner, we should divide our chores, right?" Replied the cheerful and slightly drunk woman.

"Paper...scissors...stone...one...two...three!" they both said in unison.

"Oh crap..."

"I'm sorry Shinji; it looks like this isn't your day..."

"I don't know how, but, I think you cheated..." Said the annoyed boy while looking at the now complete chore's chart in which from the who knows how many turns in there, only around four or five where for Misato.

"Complain, complain, complain, is that the only thing you do? It's getting on my nerves! Stop doing it and act like a man!" She replied leaning on the table and giving him an angry look, forgetting the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Y-Yes ma'am...Sorry ma'am!" he said leaning back on his chair a bit scared of her attitude, and giving quick glances to the 'little show' she was giving him.

"Oh well, I guess it's just an age thing..." she sighed getting back to her chair "Hey, why don't you go take a bath? Yeah! A bath will help you relax and get a good night rest!"

"Ok..." Shinji yawned as he went to get some stuff from his back pack and then entered the bathroom.

"_He's a good kid..."_ Misato mused while sipping her beer _"...A bit annoying, but a good kid anyway..."_

"WAARRK!!!"

She was interrupted from her train of thoughts with a loud squeak, a few seconds later Shinji's head popped out of the slightly opened bathroom door. "...err...Misato..." he said with a bit of uneasiness "...care to explain?" he said coming completely out of the bathroom holding a shocked looking penguin from under its wings.

"Oh, that's Pen-Pen" She answered "He's one of those warm water penguins, he's your other roommate" She said while drinking her beer "Don't mind him, he likes to take hot baths every once in a while..."

Hearing this, he placed the bird on the floor kneeling in front of it and staring at it for a little while "S'up dude!" he said extending a hand to his unusual roommate.

"Wark" it replied, shaking the offered hand with its flipper and then getting back to its fridge.

"Heh Heh, what a weird place..." he said as he stood up and placed his hands behind his head.

"...err...Shinji?" Said Misato.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you cover up?"

Hearing this, Shinji looked down to himself and noticed that he wasn't wearing anything except some white boxers with pink heart shaped dots "What? They're clean" he said a bit indignant before retreating back to the bathroom, Misato just sighed and headed back to her room.

"Ahhh, She was right this feels good" Shinji said out loud while relaxing in the hot tub _"Damn, who would have though that not only I'll be meeting again with my father, but also I'll be end working for him too"_ he thought as he stared at the ceiling _"I wonder who is that Rei girl everyone was talking about, maybe she was the girl I saw in the hospital?"_ and so he let his mind wonder about the new changes in his life.

Meanwhile, in a secured part of NERV commander Ikari was looking down to the yellow Cyclops known as Evangelion Unit-00 from the remains of the testing room.

"So, how was Rei today? You went to see her today didn't you?" Asked Dr. Akagi as she approached the man.

"She will be fine in twenty days, after that we will be able to reactivate Unit-00" he said while he adjusted his glasses.

"You're being too hard on these kids"

"We have no choice, as long as they can pilot the Evas, they will have to do it"

"Without any regard to what they want, or to what they need, to...?"

"Do you have any information from the third child?" He cut her off.

"Well..." she sighed in defeat "He doesn't recall much of the battle, and justifies his unexpected high synch ratio to survival instinct, but I still think he was hiding some information"

"Very well doctor, you are dismissed" he said without turning back.

She turned around and walked off, when she was about to reach the door she turned back to the commander and said "Are you sure you can control this, that you will be able to control him when he finds out about all this? Shinji doesn't seems to be the kind of person who likes to obey orders"

When he didn't say anything she continued on her way and left the room, leaving him to his thoughts. He knew she was right to a certain degree; he wasn't expecting his son to be this 'carefree' and possibly was going to give a bit more trouble than he had expected, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He had worked to hard to carry his scenario to this point and nothing would step in his way. Eventually, he left the room; he had more important things to handle right now.

Back in the now Katsuragi/Ikari residence, Shinji was already on his bed listening to some rock ballads with his Discman; he raised his left hand above his head and stared at it for a while before touching around his right eye with it. "That was really weird" he whispered remembering the rather painful experience inside the Eva.

------------Flashback------------

"There is a crack in the head armour!" yelled a long haired tech named Shigeru.

"The brain case is breaking, it won't take much more!" reported his colleague Makoto.

After that, the spear went through the Eva's head, impaling it to a nearby building, with the Eva's head spraying blood through both of its sides.

"Maya, give me the pilot's status!" said Misato, concern was evident in her voice.

"Neural connections reversing! Synch ratio dropping! Unable to read pilot's life signals!"

"Damn, there's no choice" thought Misato as she watched the situation "The life of the pilot is top priority, eject the entry plug!"

"I can't, its rejecting the signal!" Yelled Maya.

Inside the entry plug, Shinji was gripping his right eye with his good hand_ "Dammit, Dammit, Dammit, Dammit, this t-thing is killing me, I-I can't do this, what was I thinking when I agreed to this!" _he thought desperately as he saw the 'warning' signals across the plug's walls. _"But..." _he suddenly realized "_if I don't do it...they all will die..." _he thought as he felt the same burning sensation he felt earlier _"T-They're counting on me...I-I mustn't give up"_

_Fight..._

"_Y-yes...I must fight­..."_

_Kill..._

"Yes, heh heh...I-I'm gonna kill it, heh heh heh..." he said as the plug's walls returned to the normal outside view. "Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha" He started laughing louder as the burning feeling increased by the second "Ha Ha He He...I...Ha Ha I..." he trailed of "Ha Ha...I...I...I'll tear you apart!!! Hahahaha!!!"

This is only the beginning...

----------End flashback------------

"_I wonder what that was all about, that weird feeling..." _he thought as he tried to sleep _"Well, I better not think much about it right now, it's late and I apparently have school tomorrow...damn..." _he yawned and a few moments later he was sound asleep.

**To be continued**

Thanks to my pre-readers EVA-01X, Cavalier and StormofDragons

Any opinion, comment, etc. just let me know

Untill next time!


	3. C3

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 03: "Bondage anyone?"**

It had been a few days since Shinji joined NERV, and between school and Eva training, his life had been very tiring.

"Ok Shinji, how are you feeling today?" Asked Dr. Akagi through the inter-comm.

"Now that you mention it, I'm a bit uncomfortable" he said while scratching his lower back "can I un-pressurize this thing?" he asked her, referring to the button on his plug suit's wrist.

"For the last time, no." She answered while rubbing her forehead.

"Oh! C'mon!" he whined, "This damn thing is getting up my ass!"

"Shinji, the plug suits are designed to allow an optimal synchronization between the Eva and its pilot, not for long walks through the park or anything like that" Scolded the doctor.

"Ok, ok, calm down" he said holding his hands in front of him as a peace offering.

The good doctor sighed and went on with the test "Maya, start the simulation program"

"Yes ma'am"

A few moments later the view on the entry plug changed to one similar to the streets of Tokyo-3.

"Well" said the now relatively calm blonde "Since you already trained in the basic Eva motions, I think this is a good time to test the artillery."

"All right!!!" replied the now very excited kid.

Poor Dr. Akagi suddenly didn't fell that this was a good idea. "Ok Shinji, first we're going to try the progressive knife" she said as the figure of the third angel appeared before him. "There's one in each of your shoulder wings, now begin."

Sure enough the right shoulder wing opened exposing the Prog. Knife's holder.

Shinji quickly grabbed it and went to a fighting stance, half expecting a sword of some sort to appear from the holder, when he pressed the button on it, only a relatively small knife came out of it. He didn't move for a few seconds, but, finally, he brought the weapon to the Eva's face, staring at it curiously.

In the test room, Ritsuko, Misato, and the bridge bunnies stared oddly as the Evangelion started to shake and bump the back side of the knife as if it was a stuck up ketchup bottle. "Shinji; is there anything wrong?" asked Misato.

"I think it's broken" he replied "I mean, it's too short!"

"Actually…" answered Maya "That's its full size."

"So, you're telling me that the Eva, the ultimate battle machine's main hand-on-hand weapon is a freaking, humming envelope opener? You people are lame," he muttered as he whirled the knife in his hand.

"Ok…" said the good doctor as she rubbed her temple and tried to stay calm "lets try some long distance weapons then."

"Now you're talking!" said Shinji as an Eva sized AK-47 appeared from an armament building, and tossed the Prog. Knife over his shoulder.

In the test room everyone was still paralyzed after the knife impaled itself a few meters below the window panel, and they all agreed that those were enough tests for the day.

----------

It was a normal day at Tokyo 3 public High School, a few students were reunited in small groups chatting around the desks waiting for the teacher to come and begin with another long and boring day in class 2-A.

"Mister Aida" said a pigtailed girl as she approached a boy who was currently playing with an UN scale VTOL model "I hope that you delivered those print outs to Mister Suzuhara yesterday as I asked you."

"Oh? Class Rep. How are you?" He replied nervously "Print outs? Well you see, I was a bit busy and..." he trailed off not finding a proper excuse.

"Kensuke, I can't believe you!" she shouted angered "Isn't Touji supposed to be your best friend? Aren't you at least a bit concerned as to why he hasn't showed at school lately!?"

"Don't worry about him" he ensured her "Touji is a strong guy"

She nodded as she turned slowly back to her seat, at that moment; said jock was entering the classroom. "Good morning class rep, S'up Ken"

"Hey man" said the bespectacled boy "where have you been all these days?"

"I was visiting my sister in the hospital."

"What!? What happened?"

"She got injured during the last battle with that damn robot. If I ever meet the stupid pilot of that damn thing I'm gonna..."

"Well, you know, there's this..." Aida started but was interrupted when the teacher entered the classroom and everybody hurried to their seats.

"Stand! Bow! Sit!"

"Good morning students, I hope you all had a nice weekend, now lets start this." Said the teacher "Now lets see...Aida, Kensuke?"

"Here"

"Aizawa, Katsue?"

"Here"

"Ayanami, Rei?"

"She's absent today" answered the class rep. the teacher nodded and continued.

"Enomoto, Chomei?"

"Here…"

"Fukuyama, Kaori"

"Here!"

"Hokari, Hikari?"

"Here"

"Ichimonji, Hideki?"

"Ah, wha...oh, here!"

"Ikari, Shinji?" but this time there was no response.

"Ikari, Shinji?" the teacher asked again, without a response, he was about to mark him 'absent' in the list when the door abruptly opened.

"Here!!!" Yelled a very tired and sweaty Shinji Ikari in between pants.

"Mister Ikari, please wait in the hall until this class is over; and please fix your uniform."

"Yes…sir" Replied tiredly Shinji as he buttoned up his shirt.

Eventually, the teacher let Shinji enter, and continued with the class, most of the students were already asleep due to the boredom of the lessons, others were surfing or chatting in their laptops, and others were just talking about mindless issues.

"Hey Touji..." Whispered Kensuke to his friend.

"What do you want" muttered the jock.

"See that kid? The pony tailed one?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's the new comer I wanted to talk you about" said Kensuke "he got transferred here a couple of days after the attack"

"Really?" he whispered getting interested.

"Yeah…Hey, wait a sec…" Kensuke replied "You think he's the pilot?"

"There's only one way to find out" Touji answered "Hey, Keiko, Yuki!"

"What do you want?" said Yuki annoyed

"Could you do me a little favour?"

Meanwhile, Shinji was sound asleep in his desk, dreaming about an orange-pink haired girl riding a motorcycle and swinging an electric guitar, when his laptop decided to beep waking him up. "What the…" he yawned as he checked the screen "New message?" he just shrugged and clicked on the link.

_Are you the pilot of the giant robot?_

"What?" he said as he started scanning the room, noticing a couple of girls waving at him, deciding to play along, he answered them.

_Yep!  
_

But unknowingly to him, that conversation was being seen by everyone in the classroom, and when he replied, all the students surrounded him asking stupid questions.

"Hey! What's the name of the robot!?"

"Why is it purple?"

"How's the inside of the inside of the cockpit?"

"Ikari! Make me yours!!!"

"Its called Eva...err...I dunno...I can't tell you that!... Hey! I'm only fourteen!!!" He answered nervously as he looked around for some way out.

"So, it was _him…_" Touji growled from the back of the classroom.

"Calm down man, don't do anything stupid"

"Don't worry Ken, you know me."

"That's why I'm saying it…"

"Everyone go back to your seats now! Hey, are you even listening to me!? Show some manners!!!" Yelled the class rep as she tried to regain the order.

Eventually, the bell announcing lunchtime sounded and everyone turned out of the classroom.

"Damn, at last…I managed to escape…" sighed Shinji as he scanned the school yard from the rooftop.

"Hey; new kid!"

Shinji turned around and saw two guys approaching "Hey, what's up!" he greeted them; his smile faded immediately as one of them tried to hit him.

"Hold still will ya!?"

"Hey!!! What's wrong with you!!! Why are you trying to hit me!!!" Yelled Shinji at the track suited guy.

"He believes that it was your fault that his sister was injured during your last battle" answered the bespectacled boy "that's his excuse anyway."

"Really, is that true?" Asked Shinji to the jock as he stood up, "Well, if that's the case…you can hit me…it's only fair" he said looking at his attacker in the eyes.

"Ok…" Said a not very convinced Touji "If that's what you want…!" He growled as he prepared to hit him.

"Just one second!!!" Shinji suddenly said, dodging the punch and making Touji nearly fall in the process.

"What the hell!!!" Yelled the now ready to kill jock.

"You have to promise me to take me see your sister with you first" he said getting a curios look from the other boy "I mean, I have to apologise to her, right?" he said in his common childish smile.

They stared at each other in the eyes, Touji was confused by the request, was he toying with him? But after a little while, he decided to trust him. "Deal"

"Don't hold back then" Shinji said closing his eyes and putting his hands in his pockets.

"Ouch…" Aida winced as he saw his friend sending the other boy to the ground with a hard blow to his jaw.

"Well" Said Touji as he rubbed his knuckles "You told me to not hold back."

_"Yeah, now I regret it"_ Shinji thought as he rubbed his jaw, when he opened his eyes he noticed the helping hand offered by his attacker and the sly smile on his lips.

"The name's Touji" he said helping him up "And that four eyes geek over there is my friend Kensuke"

"Shut up!" cried said geek, jokingly, as he approached the other two boys.

"Nice to meet you…Hey!" Exclaimed Shinji "Are you free this afternoon? Maybe we could go to the…" but he was interrupted by the sounds of a now very familiar alarm that erupted around the city "…Arcades…damn!" he cursed as he rushed to the roof door "Don't worry guys!" He yelled over his shoulder "I'll be more careful this time!"

"Good luck!!!" screamed Kensuke as their new friend ran to the school's front gate to a black car parked in front of it.

-----------

"Ok Shinji, once you get to the surface, expand your AT field, we'll send you an assault riffle once you're there." Said Dr. Akagi through the intercom.

"Sure thing" replied seriously Shinji, a pang of pain and guilt came to him as he remembered his encounter with his new friends.

_"He believes that it was your fault that his sister was injured during your last battle" _

_"Ok Shinji, new rule" _he thought _"Don't break the city."_

"Eva launch!!!" Misato's voice echoed through the command bridge, and the Evangelion was once again sent into action. "Begin the attack!" she ordered, Shinji got out of the elevator building and shot a volley at the weird looking angel; it looked like a mix of a bug, a worm and a lobster. "You idiot!" scolded the captain "you're only hitting it with your smoke!"

"Don't worry, its dead" he ensured her as he stopped firing "What the…!!!" he yelled as two light whips came out of the smoke cloud, he managed to dodge them, but not without loosing the pallet rifle first.

"I'm sending you a spare gun" said Misato through the intercom "Go get it, now!"

He was about to stand up when he noticed his enemy already on top of him, he managed to doge the attack again, this time loosing the power cord in the process.

"External power disabled, switching to internal power, five minutes left of activation," informed Maya as a countdown appeared on the main screen.

Meanwhile, Shinji was dodging all the angel's attacks, watching in horror how many buildings had been destroyed in the process. _"Damn…so much for the new rule…"_ He tried to get to the spare riffle again, but the angel managed to grab the Eva's talon dragging the mecha closer.

"Hey! Let me go you freaking monster!!!" He yelled as his enemy hung him upside down. The Eva started to struggle to release itself, but the angel slammed it to a couple of buildings and tossed it to a nearby hill.

Clouds of dust raised as the Eva slammed heavily on the hill side, levelling trees and stone, creating a humanoid shaped crater.

Inside the entry-plug Shinji slowly rubbed the back of his head when he noticed some movement near the Eva's left hand. "Touji, Kensuke!? What the hell are those idiots doing here!?" He was about to yell at them through the Eva's outside speakers to go back to a shelter when the angel floated above him, determined to finish his work.

Touji and Kensuke were in total shock, they could move after the robot barely missed them, and now the enemy was right above them, ready to attack "What the hell? Why isn't he fighting back!?" Touji screamed as the Eva caught both of the Angels whips.

"We are in the way!!!" His geek friend answered "he can't fight back because of us!!!" he yelled as the two titans struggled to dominate the other.

Suddenly, the back of the Eva opened, and the entry plug came out, "You two get in there! Now!!!" a female voice boomed as the entry's hatch opened to allow them entrance, seeing no other option, they quickly climbed the mecha's back and entered the plug.

"What the hell! Is this water!?"   
"My camera! My camera!"

Both boys screamed frantically as the entry plug sealed and they were surrounded by blackness, suddenly, the walls of the plug lit up and they could see, with a bit of static, the outside of the cockpit.

Then, the Eva tried hurl the angel as far away as it could, but it managed to wrap one of its whips to one the robot's wrists.

Shinji didn't had the time to react, and his enemy took advantage of this and started to strangle him, while it stabbed and slashed his chest with its free whip.

"Shinji, get out of there!!! Retreat!!!"

"Hey Shinji, didn't you hear her!? She said retreat!" shouted Touji as he put a hand in his shoulder.

He was trembling, his head was lowered, and he seemed to be muttering something.

"Hey man, what's wrong with you" asked Kensuke as he approached Shinji.

"…kill…kill…kill…" he began muttering a bit louder; both of the other boys slowly backed away form the pilot as he continued repeating that word as if it was an unholy mantra. "…kill…kill kill kill" he kept chanting as he raised his head, a twisted smile formed in his lips as he gripped the controls. "Kill!!!" he finally exploded, the walls of the entry plug turned red, signalizing the imminent shut down due the short power supply. 

The Eva caught the angel's whips again, and pulled it slamming it to the hill, the robot quickly rolled over the angel and started pounding it heavily on its core.

The angel tried desperately to free itself, it stabbed both of its tentacles on the mecha's abdomen, but it wasn't enough.

The purple beast quickly got hold of its progressive knife and started stabbing mercilessly at its enemy's diamond hard core.

"Oh!!! C'mon!!! Die already!!!" Shinji growled as he kept staving the angel, finally, he managed to penetrate the core with his knife; sparks flew everywhere as the blade dug deeper and deeper in the red orb. Shinji screamed in pain and anger as the angel twisted its whips in the Eva's flesh trying to get free without avail and he pushed with both hands in the right control to increase the pressure in the knife.

Inside the plug, every second seemed like an hour as both titans tried to kill each other.

Finally both the angel's core and the Eva's eyes lit off, the purple mecha felt limp on top of his prey, the sunset last rays of light dancing on top of both behemoths, signalising the end of a gruesome battle.

"The Eva has de-activated" informed Maya "Target has gone silent; entry plug last readings indicate that the pilot and his 'passengers' are ok."

Misato kept a neutral expression as she stared silently at the main screen.

"Hey Shinji, you ok?" Asked Touji as he approached the downcast pilot

"Shinji, c'mon" Asked Kensuke as he gently shacked the pilot.

Shinji was clutching his head, and appeared to be slightly sobbing "D-Did…we win?" he asked softly "Is it dead?"

"Yeah" answered Touji.

"You were amazing man" continued Kensuke excitedly, seeing that his friend was back in a relatively good state.

"…Good…" the young pilot whispered before passing out.

------------

Shinji slowly opened his eyes, after adjusting them to the lights, he noticed a rather familiar spot "You again…" he muttered at the hospital ceiling.

"Ahem."

He turned around to see what the source of the noise was, and found himself face to face with a serious looking Captain Misato Katsuragi. "Good to see you are awake."

"How long was I out?" he asked as he moved to a sitting position.

"That's not important now" She answered, "Do you know in how much trouble you have gotten yourself into?"

"What?"

"You disobeyed direct orders," she answered, "You put the whole operation at risk, and the city as well, do you have anything to say to that?"

"I had to do it, there was no choice…otherwise everyone would hav…" he was interrupted with a hard slap that sent him back to the bed.

"Do you ever think about what you say!?" she yelled angrily "You put hundreds of lives at risk today, not to mention your own!"

"It's not like that!" he replied rubbing his check "I did it cuz I didn't want anyone to die." Receiving an unconvinced look from his guardian he continued "You weren't there Misato, if I had run away like you say, many people may have died" he said, remembering the incident in the school's rooftop "I couldn't let that happen…after all, a true hero always fight his best for the good people of the world…no matter the risk…" he trailed off looking at his guardian once again.

Misato, for her part, just stared at him, finally, the meaning of his words sank in and she couldn't help but give him a sad smile "Shinji, You're such an idiot…"

"Hehe, yeah, I know…"

** To be continued… **

Thanks to my pre-readers Dark Machine and StormofDragons. Cavalier, good luck with college and EVA-01X, sorry I didn't wait for your opinion, but I'll be busy and wont be able to hold this anymore.

Thanks to the people who gave me a review too, glad you liked it!

Anyway…

Any opinion, comment, etc. just let me know

Until next time!


	4. C4

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 04: "The angle on the Angel"**

In a secluded part of NERV, that used to be one of the Eva's testing rooms, a large group of workers were in the process of freeing Unit 00 from its bakelite prison, and getting it ready for its upcoming reactivation tests.

"Ayanami, Rei. Fourteen years old" Dr, Akagi sighed as she glanced at her laptop "The first test subject chosen in accordance with the Marduk report…the first child…designated pilot of the Evangelion unit 00…no more is known about her…her past has been erased same as any other information…"

"So…What was the cause of the accident during the last test?" Asked Maya as she approached the doctor.

"The cause is still unknown…" she replied "However, we believe that mental instability form the pilot was the main cause."

"Mental instability? In Rei?" Maya asked a little surprised.

"Yes…" the doctor said "Her mind became more disturbed than we anticipated"

She explained "we don't know what could have happened…"

**

* * *

**

A huge group of NERV's Scientifics and other techs and engineers were working hard cleaning and collecting data from the last battle's site, Misato was there to inspect the work, and Shinji having nothing better to do, decided to tag along.

"So, this is our enemy?" Shinji whispered as he looked at the gargantuan corpse of the last angel. "Cool"

"I see…" muttered Dr. Akagi as she wrote some notes in her clipboard. "Everything except the core is intact, this is a perfect sample; thank you" she said turning to Shinji and Misato, "This will help us a lot."

"So…" replied Misato a bit annoyed that she was missing her free day, "did you find anything new?"

"Follow me" she said leading them to her cubby-hole.

"601?" muttered Misato reading her friend's computer, "What does that means?"

"That's the code for _it can not be analyzed,_" answered Ritsuko.

"In other words, you don't know…" Sighed Shinji, unenthusiastically

"In short…yes," said the doctor, "what we know is that the Angel is composed of a matter characterized by both patter and wave form properties similar to solidified light."

"Did you find its power source?" asked the curious captain.

"Something like that…" replied the doctor. "But we haven't discovered any of its operational functions, however…" she said motioning her companions to look at her screen, "we discovered the Angel's inherent wave pattern."

"Really?" Asked Misato as she leaned forwards to get a better look, "Could it be…?"

"What? Hey let me see!" said Shinji as he tried to look at the computer. "Cool…what does that mean?"

"Even if they're composed of a different matter, their actual genetic structure is 99.98 similar to that of a human being."

As both women continued discussing, Shinji noticed some movement outside of the cubby-hole, peeping outside he saw none other than commander Ikari, his father, supervising the recently extracted core. He couldn't help but notice the nasty looking burnt scar on his hands.

"Hey Shinji, what's wrong?" asked Misato as she approached him.

"Ah what?" gasped the surprised kid. "N-no, Nothing, hehe"

"Mmh I don't believe it…Spit it out"

"It's nothing…" he replied, "I was just wondering were the old fart got those burn marks."

"Burns? Do you know anything about it?" asked Misato turning towards her friend.

"It was before you joined NERV," she explained. "Unit-00 went berserker during its fist activation, you've heard about it right?" seeing his affirmative nod she continued, "the pilot was trapped inside it…"

"Was it that girl you were talking about?" he interrupted, "Rei wasn't she?"

"It was Commander Ikari who rescued her; he opened the super heated hatch with his bare hands."

"The old fart did that?" he whispered, looking once again to where his father was examining the remains of the core.

**

* * *

**

It was a PE class Tokyo 3 public High School; some of the guys were playing basketball, while the others are waiting at the side of the court for the coach's instructions. Shinji completely distracted by his boredom, found himself, inadvertently watching in the direction of the pool, where the girls were taking their swimming class.

"Man, they've all got such incredible breasts…" muttered one of the boys that were also looking at the pool.

"Hey, big shot!"

"Ah wha…?" Shinji was distracted of his musing by his fiend Touji "What do you want?"

"What are you looking at so intently?" his friend asked in a teasing voice.

"I think you're looking at Ayame aren't you?" Said Kensuke; joining the conversation.

"Say What?" Shinji yelled blushing slightly.

"Oh, c'mon!" said Kensuke. "I'm not that stupid!"

"Or maybe…" Touji interrupted, "you were looking at Seiko's boobs."

"Or Yusuke's thighs…"

"Or Saori's calves…"

"Or Rina's Ass…"

"Or Hikari's feet!" Touji said excited, getting odd looks from his stooge friends. "What?"

"So…" Kensuke muttered, "What where you thinking about anyway?"

"Not much…" Shinji replied "mainly about this Rei girl, you know her don't you?"

"You mean Ayanami?" Touji inquired "Let me guess, those thoughts involved whipped cream, a water bed and some aphrodisiacs?" he asked with a wide grin.

"W-what! H-how could I! I don't even know her!" Shinji denied, blushing heavily.

"Eh? You don…"

"Ok kids!" said the coach. "Do three warm up laps around the court, now!"

"How could you not know her Shinji?" asked Kensuke. "You're both pilots, you should know her better that any of us."

"Well, she had some sort of accident with her Eva and has been in the hospital ever since."

"Hey Kid! Look out!"

"Eh?" Shinji turned around just in time to see the brand of a baseball before it collided with his forehead.

**

* * *

**

"What is this thing?" Asked Ritsuko at the foul substance that Shinji had server her.

"Just some nice tasty curry!" a slightly drunk Misato, exclaimed happily.

"You're still eating this instant crap?"

"You're eating for free, don't complain."

"Misato…" said Shinji after finishing with Dr. Akagi's plate.

"Put it in here sweetie!" said Misato motioning to her instant soup cup.

"You sure?"

"You have _no_ idea how good this is!"

"If you say so…" he muttered as he dumped a generous ration of curry in the recipient.

"Ok now let's eat!" cheered Misato as she started to devour her dinner.

Both Shinji and Ritsuko exchanged glances before tentatively trying the food, they quickly regretted it as they felt the over-spiced curry burning their tongues.

"You made this…thing…didn't you Misato?"

"Yep!" she answered happily. "How can you tell?"

"By its taste…"

"Oh? Pretty unique isn't it?"

"Yeah, thank god…" muttered the good doctor after swallowing half a glass of water. Next time invite me when it's Shinji's turn to cook, at least his food is edible."

"Don't complain…" he said after reeling his tongue back, "I have to deal with this every Thursday…"

"You should try to move," Ritsuko replied, "don't let a bad roommate mess up your life."

"Meh…I'm used to it"

"Yeah Ritsu, never underestimate the human's adaptability, besides, he would have to go through a lot of red tape, and update his security card."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Ritsuko suddenly said reaching into her purse. "Shinji, could you do me a little favour?"

"Sure."

"Could you deliver Rei Ayanami's new card? I keep forgetting it."

He didn't say anything as he took the card and examined it. However, this didn't go un-noticed by certain purple-haired woman. "Shinji, why are you looking so closely at Rei's picture?" she asked in a very innocent tone.

"W-what?" he stammered. "I'm not!"

"Yes you were" she smiled slyly. "You've got a perfect excuse to meet her…just the two of you, alone, no one to interrupt…"

"Oh! C'mon! Cut it out!" pleaded a slightly annoyed and very embarrassed third child.

"But you're so fun to tease!" the captain giggled, "you fall _so_ easily!"

"Just like Misato."

"Wha…?"

"You know…" Shinji interrupted, "it's funny how we're supposed to have the same job and not know each other…"

"Rei is a nice girl…" said Ritsuko, "but she's just like your father…"

"How come?"

"She's not very adept at living…"

**

* * *

**

It was 7:30 in the morning, Misato asked Pen-Pen to wake Shinji on time so he could make some breakfast and deliver Rei's card on time. And since the penguin didn't want to eat Misato's leftovers so early, the Third child was rudely awaked by a hungry warm water bird. And now, here he was, in a half demolished building, standing in front of a rusted metal door with the number 402 on top of it.

"Hellooo, anybody there?" he asked as he tentatively opened the door. "Its Shinji Ikari, your co-worker!" he said a bit louder. "Such a wonderful place…" he muttered full of sarcasm _"and I thought that Misato was a slob…"_ he thought as he checked the bedroom.

The walls were barely painted, bandages where scattered across the floor with trash conveniently everywhere except for in the trash bin. The small kitchen looked like it hadn't been used or dusted in years and yet; the sink was still piled high with chipped and dirty dishes. The bed was crumpled and looked oddly damp, with the bedspread tossed around and badly unkempt.

Shinji yawned as he walked around a bit through the apartment, covering his mouth with his right hand and stretching his left to his side, but was rudely stopped in mid yawn as he felt something press against his palm. He was paralyzed, _"Please let it be a wall, please let it be a wall, please let it be a soft, warm and somewhat wet bump in the wall!" _he mentally cried as he felt his hand instinctively close around the still unknown, round object. "Y-you are not a wall, are you?" he tentatively asked, now fearing the worst.

"No, I am not." Came the soft reply.

He spun around and found himself caught in the red eyed stare of Rei Ayanami, who had just came out of the shower. "Err...H-hi?" he gulped loudly at the awkwardness of the situation.

"Will you please let go of me?"

"Wha…?" he asked confused, then glancing down, he noticed that his hand was still groping the girl's breast very tightly considering how nervous he was "Ah! Sorry!"

He abruptly removed his hand from her and turned around. "I-it was an accident! I-I didn't mean to! I-I well…Please don't kill me!" he had a sudden flashback of the previous day at school, some guy _accidentally_ brushed the back of his hand on a girls ass, who was coincidentally the one he had a crush on. The poor boy spent the rest of the day in the nurse office. And now, he had just touched, in a very improper way, a girl he has just met, in a very private part of her body, and they were alone in a abandoned building in the less populated part of the city.

He was trapped.

He was at her mercy.

Rei didn't say a word as she closed the door of her apartment.

He was completely alone. "…the hell?"

**

* * *

**

They walked silently to NERV, Rei minding her own business and Shinji a few steps behind trying to digest the events of earlier that morning. Eventually they reached one of the NERV access elevators, Rei swiped her card through the reader and…

_Access denied_

She looked at her card and tried again, getting the same result, she was about to try again when Shinji beat her to it. "Here's your new card, that's why I was at your apartment this morning." he said as he handed her the ID. She looked at it for a second before snatching it from his hands. "You're welcome…" he muttered as he swiped his own card and followed her to the elevator.

* * *

"I…I'm sorry…" Shinji said as they descended on the escalators.

"Why?"

"For earlier this morning…I guess…" he said, "Hey, aren't you…nervous?"

"About what?"

"I've heard about your accident in Unit-00," he replied, "and I thought that you may be scared about getting in that thing again."

"Aren't you the commander's son?"

He blinked, "Yeah.."

"Don't you have faith in your father's work?" she asked without turning back

"To tell the truth, no," he answered, somehow hurt, "The old fart never gave me any reason to do so…"

He was cut off as Rei turned around and approached him; she stared at him for a second before slapping him, and without saying a word, she turned around again.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked rubbing his cheek. "Was it for what I said 'bout the ol...commander?"

She hesitated a second before answering "He raised me."

"Really…?" he asked softly, a feeling of rejection starting to boil inside of him, but he pushed it aside "He took care of you? As in 'adopted' you or something?"

She didn't reply.

"That means that we're siblings then! Well, kinda…" He concluded cheerfully.

She was a bit surprised when they reached the bottom of the stairs she found him smiling at her "Good luck on the test sis!" He said hugging her and then turned away.

She watched cautiously at his retreating form before turning towards her changing room to suit up for the tests.

**

* * *

**

"Pulse and harmonics are normal!" said Maya through the intercom.

"No problems detected!" Added Makoto.

The Unit-00's re-activation had begun a little while back; Ritsuko, Gendo and the bridge crew were monitoring it from the test control room. Misato was looking at it from one of the observation rooms along with Shinji.

"In Synch. All links completed"

"Check list is satisfactory up to 2590," reported Maya, "Approaching the critical mark. 2.5 More."

Everybody tensed up a little during the countdown until finally the Eva was active and fully in synch with Rei.

"Ikari," said the sub commander, "an unidentified object is approaching, it may be the fifth angel."

"Stop the test, go to first stage alert," ordered Gendo.

**

* * *

**

The diamond like form of the new angel silently floated towards the centre of the city.

"Unit-01 ready for battle!"

"Launch!" Ordered Misato.

"We're detecting a high energy reaction from within the target" reported Makoto.

"What?"

"It's accelerating and massing upon itself!"

Suddenly the energy seemed to reach critical mass, causing a bright glow to start emanating from the front of the Angel. From that glow a beam of pure light streaked out, heading directly for the exit from the Geofront Unit-01 was about to appear out of at any second.

At that moment, the elevators door opened and the Eva reached the surface "Quick! Dodge it!" Shouted Misato, but was already too late, as the angel's particle beam melted its way through a building and collided with the mecha's chest

"Unit-01 is fighting the restraints!"

"Retrieve him! Hurry!"

**

* * *

**

"_Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!_" Shinji thought in anger and desperation as the over heated LCL boiled him alive "DAMNAAAARRGGHHH!" and with a final scream he felt the darkness consume him.

**

* * *

**

_Can you feel it? The heat?_

**

* * *

**

_"_I wonder why no one cleans up that spot…" When Shinji woke up, he found himself in a familiar hospital room _"…how did I get here anyway…"_ his thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and someone pushing a trolley entered the room, "Oh, Hey Rei"

"I'm here to brief you on the Operation Yashima Timetable," she replied, reaching for a little schedule on her pocket. "It will begin at midnight 0:00 hours. Prior to that Pilots Ikari and Ayanami will arrive at the cage at 17:30. At 18:00 Units 00 and 01 will activate, at 18:00 both Units will be deployed; they will arrive at the temporary base on mount Futago at 18:30. There they will await further orders."

Putting aside the schedule she reached for the bottom of the cart, "This is your new one." she said tossing him a spare plug-suit. Shinji sat up, looking at the plug suit on his lap. "Don't show up looking like that."

"What?" He looked down at himself, noticing his state of nakedness, he yelped, and pulled the blankets to cover up, "sorry!"

"What for?"

He sighed, resting his head on his knees. "So, I have to pilot again?"

"Yes, you do." Rei answered coldly.

"Oh joy…" He muttered. "I don't really feel like doing it again…"

"Then you can stay here."

"What?"

"I will pilot Unit-01," she replied, "Doctor Akagi already prepared to rewrite the personal data files for Unit-01." He was surprised to hear that they were already prepared for any eventuality. "I'm leaving now. They are waiting for me at the cages."

"Hehe…I said that I didn't felt like doing it, never said that I wasn't going to…" he whispered after she left, and noticing the tray on top of the cart "oooh…fried chicken."

**

* * *

**

"Kinda ironic, don't you think?" Shinji said after pressurizing his suit. They had just got the battle plan to defeat the angel, he was to shoot, and Rei was to play defence. "The first day we met may be also our very last…"

"You won't die" she replied after suiting up "I will protect you…"

**

* * *

**

Houses, buildings, cities and towns, a whole country-wide blackout went through Japan, all for the sake of mankind.

"Hey, why do you pilot this?" Asked Shinji from their view point of the city; besides their Evas.

Rei seemed to think a little about her answer. "because I'm bonded to it" she said "a bond to all people"

"That's pretty noble."

"I have nothing else…"

"What do you mean?"

"Its time. Let's go." she replied, ignoring his question. "…Goodbye."

**

* * *

**

"Shinji, we're entrusting you with the energy of the entire nation of Japan!" Said Misato through the intercom "We're counting on you!"

"Ok!"

"Initiate primary conections!"

Turbines roared, little parts of the forest burned around the over heated connection cables, Unit-01 lay flat on its stomach, waiting for the right time to shoot.

"Error correction for Earth rotation and gravity is 0.0009."

Shinji awaited. Anxious for the aiming computer to lock on the target.

"Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle."

The countdown started, the tension grew between the staff. "High energy output detected inside target!" Informed Maya alarmed.

"It can't be!"

"…three…two…one…"

"Fire!" ordered Misato; both titans fired their weapon at the same time, the beams twisted and turned around each other, the little temporary base rocked violently at the explosion shock wave. "Shinji! Did you miss?"

"By Faaar…" he responded, watching the explosion, miles away from the angel.

"Get a second shot ready! Hurry"

"The electromagnetic field of the angel's weapon is interfering with the computer!" informed Shigeru, "we'll need one minute to fix it!"

"The target is ready to shoot again!"

"No! Not now!"

"Oh crap!" Shinji said when he saw one of the angel's corners shinning brightly. He thought he was done for, until he saw the back of Unit-00 blocking the attack with the shield.

"Rei!"

"That shield wont last long!"

"Are we ready yet?"

"Forty seconds 'til the computer is ready!"

"This thing already cooled of!" Said Shinji "I'm shooting!"

"No!" protested Ritsuko "We can't risk missing again!"

Shinji glanced at the yellow Eva, both the shield and armour were melting under the enormous pressure and heat of the angel's attack. "But Rei won't last that long!"

"Just thirty more seconds!"

"Listen! I just found out I have a sister here and I'm not gonna let her die dam it!" he snapped, "Have faith in me…please…" with that, he closed the communications with the

base, and pushed the special aiming helmet back to its place behind the seat. He closed one of his eyes, trying to pin-point the angel through the blinding light "…C'mon…don't fail me now…" and pulled the trigger.

Unit-01 jerked a bit at the kick-back of the rifle, the beam soared through the angel's, penetrating its body, killing it almost instantly.

Shinji quickly moved towards the lowered Unit-00, extracting the over heated entry plug and placing it carefully on the ground.

"Who…was…the…idiot…who…designed…these…things!" Shinji groaned, pulling the handles of the plug's emergency hatch. Finally, the door opened "Rei! You Alright?"

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see his teary face, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he scolded, though relieve that she was apparently alright was clear "And don't you ever say that 'i have nothing else' crap again! It's not true!"

She couldn't help but to be surprised by his outburst, no one has ever shown any concern for her well being; except commander Ikari, could it be, that his son, this boy before her, was showing the same kind of feelings to her? "I'm sorry…" she replied after a little while "…I don't know what I should do or feel at times like this…"

"What about a smile for your good old brother then?" he said softly, grinning at her.

She stared at him, the warm feeling she suddenly got from him; she had got them from only one person in her life, in a rather similar situation to this one, she understood now, and she couldn't help but smile.

**To be continued…**

Well, as they say...  
zOMG!11!one1! IT'S TEH REI!11!1  
or something like that ;  
anyway, before you say it, yes, this chapter is VERY similar to the actual episode, it was done like that in purpose. Why? Simple, Even though this Shinji is diferent to the series one(read happier), he doesn't come without flaws, i mean, you don't get abandoned by your dad at a 5 years old age, and then come to find that he took care of some other random kid instead of you and don't feel at least sad, right? Also, same as the original Shinji, he didn't holded it against Rei(the "random kid" in this case) and instead had a ...i dunno conection with her or something  
Anyway, enough crap :P

Thank you to all who bothered to read this thing! And, for those who asked, i'll try to keep everyone as much IC as i can...at least for a while ;  
And also thanks to my prereaders Cavalier, Stormofdragons, Eva-01X and Dark Machine!

Any opinion, coment, etc. just let me know. 'Til next time!

Edit: I hate the Quick edit option!


	5. C5

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 05: "Battle Bots!"**

The smell of breakfast flooded the humble Katsuragi/Ikari apartment, Shinji munched happily, yet drowsily on his toast, while Pen-Pen swallowed his fish.

"G'morning…"

"Wark…" greeted both males of the house as their guardian and roommate made her way to the kitchen.

"…Morning…" Yawned Misato as she walked over to the fridge and retrieved her customary morning beer. "Yeeehaa! There's no better way to start a day!"

"You know, normal people prefer coffee…"

"Look, a traditional Japanese breakfast begins with rice, Miso soup and sake." She retorted.

"That's beer, not sake…" he pointed out.

"Shut up…you're not the most common person yourself y'know…" she replied,

"It's pretty surprising to see you awake this early."

"Pen-Pen woke me up to make his breakfast…" he said, "It's amazing how the poor thing survived with you. Besides, weren't you supposed to cook this morning?"

"Are you calling me lazy?"

"And a slob too…" He replied calmly, "No wonder you're still single!" he chuckled, seemingly un-aware of the fuming woman in before him.

"Why you little…" but she was cut of by the door bell that decided to ring at that exact moment.

"I'll get it!" He said quickly, mostly to escape the enraged Misato.

"Good morning Mister Ikari!" Shinji was greeted by his two stooge friends, Touji and Kensuke, who came to pick him up. "We're taking of Miss Misato!" they said, pushing Shinji aside to greet the real reason of their visit.

"Take care!" said reason greeted from the bathroom, weaving her hand through the door, causing the two boys cry in joy, and some naughty thoughts to develop in their minds.

"Err…can we go now?"

* * *

Shinji watched lazily from the classroom window as they 'dismantled' the last angel _"I wonder what they are gonna do with that…"_ he thought, _"Maybe feed one of those countries affected by second impact? It sure has a lot of meat…"_ he remembered a conversation with Dr. Akagi and Misato when they told him that the real cause of second impact wasn't a meteor as they say in books, but rather the awakening of Adam, the first angel. He also remembered when they told him that angels where ninety-something percent genetically close to human being and it made him make a disgusted face; however, this didn't stop a certain thought to enter his mind, "I bet they taste like chicken…"

The roaring of engines and the screeching of wheels cut him of his thoughts, "I know that sound…" he muttered looking down at the school parking lot in time to see a familiar blue sports car doing a over dramatic stop.

"Oh my God! She's here!"

The other two stooges rushed towards the window nearly pushing Shinji through it.

"Hello! Miss Misato!" Shouted Touji, while Kensuke recorded the event, causing the purple haired captain to look up and give the 'peace' sign. By this moment, most of the boys had joined in, along with the ones from the other classrooms.

"Such nice boobs!" muttered one of them, voicing the thoughts of the rest. "And those legs!"

"I'll do _anything_ to have a girlfriend like that…" said Touji dreamingly.

"If you can endure her sloppiness…" Shinji pointed out.

"You just don't get it don't you big shot?" Both of his friends chorused.

"You keep the Earth safe and we'll take care of Misato!" They both slapped him hard in the back, nearly sending him through the window again.

* * *

"_Keep the world safe…"_ Shinji mussed while the teacher rambled once again about life pre Second Impact. _"Yeah, that's supposed to be my job…well, Eva's job…"_ He thought leaning back on his desk. _"But what is actually an Eva anyway…I mean, what kind of robot can actually bleed? And…why do I feel like I belong with it…"_ Tired of so many questions and the teacher lectures, he opted for taking a quick nap.

* * *

Another normal day started in the Katsuragi/Ikari apartment.

Pen-Pen going to wake Shinji up to avoid its owner's food, and the young Ikari going to the kitchen to open a sardine can and letting it on the ground so the 'accursed bird' could eat, and then, since he was already up, make his own breakfast. He opted for a bowl of cereal, and some milk.

"Good morning."

Both bird and boy looked up to greet their guardian, and chocked on their food at what stood before them. "Y-You l-look…formal!" Shinji accused at the older woman, she was wearing a black military dress.

"Hump…to bad I can't say the same about you…" she retorted, pointing at his attire, which consisted in a plain white sleeveless shirt and light blue boxers, his hair was untied and messy.

"Its Saturday leave me alone…" he grumbled, "Where are you going anyway?"

"I'm going to the old Tokyo for business." she answered. "I'll probably be back 'til late so order something out for dinner, see ya." She said as she put up her shoes and walked out of the apartment.

* * *

"Good afternoon and welcome to the celebration of completion of the JA project!" greeted the Jet Alone project director, "now we'll be answering your questions."

"I have some questions."

"Ah yes, the famous Doctor Ritsuko Akagi" the director acknowledged, "It's an honour to have your presence here today! What do you wish to know?"

"According to our earlier briefing, this unit is equipped with an internal nuclear reactor, is this correct?"

"Ah yes, its one of the projects most distinguished features!" He affirmed, "One hundred and fifty day operating is assured."

"However, isn't it risky to put a nuclear reactor in a lad based weapon, designed for hand on hand combat?"

"Is more practical than one that works for only five minutes."

"But in an emergency there could be a problem with the remote control."

"But its better than to cause a tremendous mental stress in a person."

"Cut it out Ritsu…" Muttered a rather bored Misato, "This only makes you look childish…"

"And there's also the matter of the manual operation" she continued, ignoring her friend.

"A machine that cannot be controlled is absurd… " The director retorted calmly "The JA project is more reliable than a weapon that can lose control at any moment and go berserk, and its obviously mental unstable pilot, who by the way, it's only a child." He said holding up a document with the pictures of Unit-01 and Shinji during the third angel's attack. "It's surprising that the UN allows NERV to use a minor for such a dangerous activity, and not to mention the immense amounts of money you're receiving, causing whole countries to starve"

"However, NERV is the only one with a weapon that can defeat the enemy" Ritsuko pointed out.

"You mean the AT-Field?" the director questioned, "That's only temporal, as you will see in the demonstration a week after today. Is there anything else, doctor Akagi?"

"No, that would be all, thank you." Replied a rather displeased Ritsuko taking back her seat.

"Do you know anything about that demonstration?" Asked Misato.

"Didn't you get the memo?" seeing that her friend didn't, the blonde explained. "Next Saturday would be not only the first JA activation, but also it would be its first 'real battle conditions' test"

"Oh? And what's it gonna fight?"

"Evangelion Unit-01"

* * *

"So you're telling me that I have to either win or tie in a fight with a freaky looking radioactive trash can…with my bare hands?"

"Yeah, that sums it up" Misato replied as they finished dismounting Unit-01's shoulder wings "Oh, and you'll have only five minutes, we're cutting your power source."

"…Oh joy…" he grumbled "you know; we really need to talk more about things like…telling me important facts so I can prepare and stuff!"

"Don't worry about it" The captain ensured "The JA Robot has never been used in battle, so you have experience as your advantage."

The battle was to be developed in an empty lot at old Tokyo, since the city had been abandoned long ago, the risk of causalities was null, also, due to the fact that the JA robot was still a prototype, it didn't had any weapons yet, so it was agreed that the fight was to be a hand on hand encounter.

"_Meh…she's right…"_ he thought as they opened the JA hangar _"I just have to keep that thing away with my AT-field 'til the batteries run out…that will be a bit boring though…ok, a few punches and kicks and then the AT-field, easiest tie _ever_."_

"Start the test!"

"Pressure levels nominal."

"Coolant system circulation nominal."

"Releasing the control rods."

"Eva's power cord unplugged!"

"Begin!"

Both Unit-01 and the JA robot took a step forwards "Here goes!" Shinji rushed towards it, his fist raised directly toward the robot's head, but the JA control crew noticed it and parried easily "Ok, he's good…damn it!" he cursed trying to kick on its side.

* * *

"Keep it up Shinji, you're doing fine!" Misato cheered as the two mechas exchanged hits.

The director watched the fight with a neutral expression "enter to battle mode level two" he ordered to one of the techs.

The JA's attacks became faster and stronger; Shinji got worried as none of his hit landed, "Fuck! Stay back you damn thing!"

"AT-Field at 36.27 efficiency." Informed one of the techs as the main screen showed Unit-01 stopping the JA robot on its track.

"I guess this battle is over!" Replied Misato, turning towards the director.

He, however, looked unfazed "Activate the EM-field."

* * *

"Ha Ha! Easy money…" Shinji chuckled and relaxed on his seat while he holded up his AT-Field and kept the JA at a safe distance. "Now I just have to…what?" he gasped as he felt the Eva starting to move backwards. "What the hell?" He exclaimed horrified as an aqua green force shield appeared in front of the JA robot. "Ah crap…"

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" yelled an angry Misato as the screen showed how the JA shattered Unit-01's AT-Field and kicked it through some buildings.

"That my dear Captain is the JA's electromagnetic force shield, or EM-field for short," explained the director.

"EM-Field?" inquired Ritsuko.

"That's right" he said "As you well know, every kind of energy has a polar opposite, which can neutralize it. Our scientists have discovered that this particular wave form or electro magnetic energy can, in theory, neutralize to a 67 an Eva's AT-Field at 100 capacity." He looked over the two women smirking "And it looks like they were right"

* * *

"Damn it…damn it…damn it…" Unit-01 lied on the ground, in front of it, the JA stood victorious, mocking him, "Stupid thing thinks it can defeat me…" Shinji grasped the controls, willing his robot to its feet "I'll show it…" he growled, a mad grin crossed his face, "I'll show them!"

The Eva charged towards the JA, both green and orange fields collided violently, both mechas pushing each other with all their might, neither willing to surrender.

* * *

"The pressure inside the force shield generator is augmenting!"

"The temperature in the nuclear reactor is increasing at exponential rates!"

"Insert the neutron-deceleration fluid!" ordered the head man, "activate the emergency cooling pipes!"

"Negative!" shouted alarmed one of the techs, "There's something blocking the signal!"

"The compression valve is malfunctioning!"

"Possibility of meltdown is imminent!"

"_So close…So fucking close…"_ The director stared bitterly at the monitor, "Deactivate the force shield generator! Redirect all the coolant to the reactor! Now!"

* * *

The aqua-green field shattered, not able to resist anymore the pressure of its orange counterpart. The Eva rammed heavily on the JA, the robot's legs collapsed, not able to support the weight of both mechas. Unit-01 pressed the fallen machine to the ground with its foot and pulled both of its opponent's arms tearing them of. The purple beast was about to deliver the final blow when suddenly its eyes lit off and collapsed on top of the JA.

* * *

"It looks like the JA project has been cancelled" Misato smiled confidentially at the director, who chose to remain silent "If it can't hold its ground against an Eva, much less against an Angel."

No one noticed, however, when Dr. Akagi stepped out of the room, and dialled a special number on her cell phone.

"Everything went well doctor?" asked a sombre voice from the other side of the line.

"Yes sir" Akagi replied, "Our little _helper_ wasn't even noticed, everything went according to the plan."

"Did Unit-01 suffer any damage?"

"Nothing we can't fix in a couple of weeks."

"Very well then" and with that, commander Ikari ended the conversation. Dr Akagi put back her cell-phone in her coat and turned back to the command room.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Pacific, a man was typing on a computer, after inputting some last command, the unshaved man relaxed back on his chair, "That was fun" he said, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh Kaajiii" he heard a feminine voice from the other side of his room; he quickly changed the screen on the monitor before the owner of said voice reached him. "Watcha doin?" she said sweetly before hugging him from behind.

"Well, since we're arriving to Japan in a few weeks, I thought that I could get rid of some of the red-tape." He lied.

"Really?" She asked suspiciously, she knew he was hiding something.

"Shouldn't you be in bed now?" he questioned.

"You coming with me?" she whispered on his hear.

"Good night Asuka…"

"Hump…you're no fun…" she pouted letting go of him, "G'night Kaji!" she kissed him on his cheek before turning around and leaving the room.

"Kids…" he chuckled to himself. Turning back to his computer, he checked through the data he 'borrowed' from the JSSDF on the last battle "Was my help really needed I wonder?" he said as he scanned the last reading of Unit-01 before his intervention. "Shinji Ikari…it's going to be very interesting meeting you…"

**To be continued.**

Ok, that was diferent.  
As always, thanks to all who bother reading this thing  
and of course, to my prereaders Stormofdragons and Dark Machine.  
To Cavalier and Eva-01X, good luck with whatever you're douing, haven't heard of any of you for a while...  
Anyway, see ya next time!  
By the way! I seriously doubt that i'll be using the EM-Field again.**  
**


	6. C6

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter**** 06:** "Asuka Strikes!"

"Correct" commander Ikari said through the telephone "the committee just gave its approval, the cargo it's making its way over here."

* * *

Near the sun-bathed coast of Japan, a UN carrier helicopter made its way to open waters. 

"Awesome! A MIG-55 transport helicopter! I never thought that I will be riding one of these!" Exclaimed an over excited Kensuke. "I'm _so_ lucky to have you as my friend!" he said turning to a barely conscious Shinji.

"Yeah yeah, I'm amazing, now shut up and let me sleep damn it…" yawned Shinji, trying to find a comfortable position on his seat.

"That's the last time I let you watch TV 'til so late at night." Scolded Misato from the front seat.

"Whatever…" he replied drowsily, "Where are we going anyway?"

"Well, since I thought that you may be getting sick of your mountain trips, I decided to bring all of you to a date on that cute little boat down there!"

"Ah go…A _what_?" Shinji sat up alarmed and turned to see through the window, effectively, there where various ships visible, _"ah crap…"_ he gulped, ignoring Touji's attempts to show of to his guardian or the exited remarks of his military-fanboy friend.

The helicopter finally landed on the carrier 'Over the Rainbow'. Touji was the first to hop out; he was in the middle of stretching from the long trip when one gust of wind created by the copter's propellers sent his cap flying through the deck. "What the…Hey come back here!"

The second one was Kensuke and his camera, who didn't waste a second before starting to record every inch of the ship.

The third one was Misato, who was clutching her jacket and beret to avoid something similar to what happened to the jock. Way behind her was Shinji, looking nervously around him and hoping that the ship would stay afloat. He was too distracted wondering why the lifeboats weren't visible that he didn't notice the approaching of a new member to their little group.

"Well hello Misato!" An arrogant, female voice cut him out of his mussing. He turned around and his breath caught in mid throat.

Before them was a young girl, around his age, her light yellow sun dress waving in the wind along with her long red hair. He also noticed a pair of red neural connector on her head, meaning that this was in fact the new pilot they were supposed to pick up, _and_ his soon to be co-worker.

"Let me introduce you!" Said Misato, "This is the designated pilot of Eva Unit-02, Asuka Langley Sohryu"

"_Whoa…"_ He lowered his gaze to see his friend Touji trying to free his cap from under the girl's foot, when a sudden gust of wind lifted the redhead skirt, giving the young men more than a little view of her panties.

Misato watched amused as Asuka slapped all three boys almost at the same time. "What the hell was that for?" Demanded a pained and very angry jock.

"That was the viewing few." She answered arrogantly, "Quite a bargain huh?"

"Yeah, right…" he replied "Here, I'll show you a bargain!" He said dropping his pants, and underwear.

"You disgusting pig!"

"Ouch…" Groaned Kensuke when his childhood friend was floored with a power-slap. "That's gonna leave a mark…"

"Oh man…" Shinji whined disgusted as the after image of the pretty girl's underwear was burned and replaced by the sight of Touji's bare ass. "Dude! I didn't want to see that!"

"Now tell me!" Asuka said approaching Misato, "Who's the famous Third Child?" She turned accusingly towards the twitching jock on the ground, "Ugh…don't tell me…"

"Don't worry…" the woman ensured, "This is the third child, Shinji Ikari" She said giving the nervous boy in question a little not so gentle push.

"Err…hmm…Hi! I'm Shinji, nice to meet ya!" He said, extending his hand to greet the redhead.

"Meh…Not much to look at…" She said nonchalantly, taking the offered hand, "Nice hair-do though."

"…Err…thanks?"

* * *

"When are you going to give us the transfer of Unit-02 then?" Asked Misato to the ship's captain. 

"Once we arrive at New Yokosuko" answered the admiral.

"The ocean is our jurisdiction" added the captain, "you will follow our orders here!"

"I understand" replied Misato. "However I should remind you that in case of an Angel related emergency NERV's authority overrides yours."

"She's awesome…" Touji said staring dreamingly at the older woman.

"So she _can_ act serious…" whispered Shinji in awe.

"Well well…" interrupted a smug voice, "I'm glad to see you're as gallant as always Katsuragi"

"Kaji!" squealed Asuka, rushing to his side and clinging happily to his arm.

Some of the other occupants of the room weren't as exited as her thought.

The captain of the ship was annoyed at the un-shaved man's constant self invitations to his bridge, Shinji was a little jealous at this guy for taking the full attention of the pretty

redhead and Misato was downright pissed at finding here, of all places, one of the very few people she honestly didn't want to see again.

"_It's just me? …or is getting a bit cold here…"_ The agent thought, feeling the trio of not so friendly stares on him.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Asked Misato as the little group descended in a miniature elevator towards a cafeteria below deck. 

"I'm escorting Asuka from NERV's Third branch in Germany" Replied Kaji. "Don't you remember? That's where I've been working for a few years now."

"I should've known…" muttered the frustrated captain, "I should've anticipated this…"

"Don't touch me there!" both ladies on the little cart yelled as one when they felt a foreign touch on her bodies.

"I can' help it!" both Touji and Kaji shouted, trying in bane to defend themselves.

No one noticed Kensuke and Shinji's almost invisible blush and grin.

* * *

"So!" the unshaved man inquired once they reached the cafeteria. "Do you have a boyfriend now Katsuragi?" 

"I don't think that's any of your concern…" she replied bitterly.

"You're so mean…" mocked the agent, then turned to the other male on his side of the table, "Hey Shinji, you live with Misato right?"

"Yeah?"

"So tell me…" the agent asked slyly resting his chin on his hands and his elbows on the table, "Is she still so wild on bed?"

Kaji then faced three pair of disgusted eyes, and other that was both offended and embarrassed. Shinji however looked a bit confused at first, before mimicking the un-shaved man's pose and look. "Of course…" he replied in the same low voice, "just give us some champagne and some whipped cream and we can have one _heeell_ of a night…"

All eyes then turned to Shinji. Both he and Kaji keep looking at each other for a little while before laughter claimed them. "What the hell was all that about!" roared a very red faced, angry Misato.

"Ah man!" grinned Kaji, "She's still very easy to annoy, isn't she, Shinji?"

"Heh Heh! Tell me about it!" He agreed, "By the way, how do you know my name?"

"How couldn't I?" the agent retorted. "You're very famous in our business!"

"…I am?" The third child blinked in confusion.

"Of course!" he confirmed, "You're the famous Third Child! Who stopped single handed the third and fourth Angel _and_ kept safe NERV's budget by stopping the J.A. Project."

"Heh Heh. That was just luck." Shinji replied nervously, ignoring Asuka's nasty, dirty glare.

"Luck is your special talent my friend" Kaji said wisely.

"_Yeah, too bad is _only_ for that…"_ Shinji thought lamely, remembering the money he owned to some seniors at school.

* * *

"So…" Kaji asked his redhead companion, "What do you think of Mr. Ikari?" 

They were in one of the observation points of the carrier, after leaving the dinner room.

"The 'famous Third Child'?" Asuka responded bored "He's a disappointment…He seems irresponsible and immature and…"

"And he got an above 40 synch ratio in his first try without any training" Kaji interrupted. "Not to mention that he managed to keep in control of a rampant Eva."

"Really?" She exclaimed surprised, she looked thoughtful for a moment before turning around and leaving for parts unknown.

* * *

"The great Third Child? Yeah right!" Said Asuka as she looked around the ship for her fellow pilot. She was still mad at him for getting those words of praise from _her_ Kaji. 

"Just you wait; I'll show you…_everyone_ who's the greatest pilot!" She finally found her target as the little group was climbing the escalators towards the main deck. "Hey! Third!" She said stepping in front of their path, "You're coming with me."

* * *

"Cool! A red Eva!" Shinji said excitedly as they reached the freighter where they held Unit-02. "Almost like a giant Ferrari!" 

"Its colour is not the only difference…" Asuka said, ignoring his comment. "Units 00 and 01 where created during the developing stage of the project" she said climbing on the robot's back, "Unit-01 going out of control and _you_ being able to pilot it are proof enough; however Unit-02 is different, being the Production Model, Unit-02 is the first _real_ Evangelion created for actual combat conditions!"

"Whoa!" Shinji replied, "That soun…W-What the hell?" He yelled Alarmed when the boat rocked violently.

"An Underwater Explosion!" Asuka said, regaining her posture, "and it sounded close…" She quickly climbed down the Eva's back, and both pilots rushed out towards an observation point.

"Look!" Shouted the German. One of the various battleships exploded violently in a purple-blue explosion, soon another one found the same fate. "Could it be?" She said exited, "A _real_ Angel?"

Shinji went pale. "A-a-an A-Angel?" He gulped loudly. _"Why here? In the middle of the ocean? So far away from dry land?"_

"Heh Heh…Now's my chance…"

"…_And why I don't like that tone?"_

* * *

"I can't believe it…" Shinji muttered. After Asuka had dragged him all the way back to Unit-02. "And what the hell is she doing in there?" he shouted exasperated after the redhead locked herself in a changing room a little while back. "Hey! Would you hur…ha…he…err…" He opened abruptly the door, only to find Asuka almost naked, with only her plug-suit around her thighs. 

"Get the hell out of here!" She screamed, blushing in embarrassment and anger.

"S-Sorry!" He yelped, managing to dodge the shoe she threw at him and getting out of the room. He lay back on the door, catching his breath. "Oh God…" He shuddered when the ship was shaken by another explosion. "Well, if I die here…" he grinned, "At least I'll go happy."

Shortly after that, Asuka emerged from the changing room, fully clothed in her skin tight red plug-suit. "Here…" she said shoving a suit similar to her own in his arms. "Put this on."

Shinji held the offered suit from its shoulders. He eyed it from up to down and gave her an odd look "Are you insane?"

"What did you said?"

"Look. _My_ plug-suit is a pain in the ass…Literally…" He hissed, "Who knows what this thing may do to me!"

"We don't have time for this bull shit!" She retorted, "Either you put that on or you stay in the ship! Your choice!"

Shinji was in a dilemma; in one hand he had the possibility of going in the same entry-plug with a good looking girl…while wearing a stupid plug-suit that would most certainly give him the most painful and humiliating wedgie of his young life. On the other hand, he also feared deeply the fact that he may die in the ship when the angel attacked it, but at least he would be comfy.

"Well?"

"All right! All right! I'll…I'll put this on…" he sighed in defeat and entered the room.

"Damn…" he sighed after putting the plug-suit on, "I haven't pressurized it yet and it's already bad…" He sighed again, eyeing the button on his left wrist "Well…here goes nothing…" and he pressed the button.

"And he dared complain that I took too long!" Asuka said, her hands on her hips and taping her foot impatiently, "What the hell is ta…"

"Oh my god! It burns!" Shinji got out of the changing room. His eyes near tears and his hands protectively over his crotch.

"You ready?" Asuka asked innocently, trying her best not to laugh.

"S-Shut…up…" Shinji said shaking. He managed to follow the red head up to the Eva's entry-plug, "By the way, does Misato know about this?"

"I'll get her permission after I've beaten it!" She replied entering the plug. "Now be ready to witness the _definition_ of an Eva pilot!" She stated proudly, "Just be sure of not disturb me."

"Ok, what now, oh great leader?" Shinji asked, positioning himself next to the pilot's seat.

Asuka ignored him and proceeded with the start sequence. "LCL einleiten. Beginn der Bewegung. Beginn des Nervenanschlusses. Korrigiere Linksneigung. Synchronisation, Start!" _(Fill in LCL. Begin of movement. Begin of neural connection. Correct__ left tilt. Synchronisation, Start!)_

"Looks like whatever that was didn't work…" Shinji said nonchalantly when error messages flared across the plug.

"It's thought noise…I told you not to disturb me!"

"Wha…Me?"

"You're thinking in Japanese aren't you?" She questioned, "If you're going to think do it in German!"

He gave her an odd look, "How the hell I'm supposed to do that?"

"Idiot!" She growled, "Oh fine!" She sighed frustrated, "Switch language to basic Japanese!" The message errors disappeared, allowing view of the outside. "Eva Unit-02! Go!"

* * *

Back in the aircraft carrier, everything was in chaos. The unknown menace was disposing easily with the fleet, while all efforts for stopping it seemed in vain. 

"Unit-02 is activating!" announced one of the marines at the bridge, making everyone look on the direction of the cargo ship holding the red Eva.

"Way to go Asuka!" Misato cheered as she watched the robot rising on the boat, still covered by the tent.

However, the ship's captain didn't look as pleased. "Abort the start sequence! That robot is operating without my autho…" He was interrupted when a certain purple haired woman snatched the microphone from his hands.

"Don't listen to that idiot! Go for it Asuka!"

"I never gave the order to activate that thing!" The captain said taking the microphone back. "You're violating my authority!"

"You're saying it as if I should care!"

"How dare you…"

"Excuse me…" Interrupted the admiral, "But, do you realize that Unit-02 is still using the B-type equipment?"

"What?"

* * *

"Please, whatever you do, do _not_ fall in the water." Shinji begged, clutching the back of the pilot seat. 

"Why, can't you swim?" Asuka grinned teasingly.

"…err…well…I…no." he answered lamely.

"…You're kidding right?"

"Shinji? Are you in there too?" The voice of one Misato Katsuragi through the comm. grabbed their attention.

"Not by choice that's for sure…"

"Will you stop complaining?"

"Asuka! Take of!" Commanded Misato

"Just what I was waiting for!" Asuka shouted, willing her mecha to jump from the ship it was standing on towards one of the nearby battle ships, just before the Angel destroyed the freighter.

"We have less than a minute of power left!" Said Shinji alarmed.

"I know that!" Asuka retorted "Misato! Get the power connector on the flight deck!"

"W-What are you planning t…"

"Let's play Hopscotch!"

"What?"

Unit-02 jumped surprisingly graciously between ships. Back in the aircraft carrier, every one was frantic, expecting the landing of the Evangelion.

"Eva Unit-02 preparing for landing!"

"Oh my God! We're gonna die!"

The Eva landed heavily on the carrier, sending numerous airplanes into the ocean as it regained its balance.

"Quick! The angel is approaching from…uh…three? …no…err…that way!"

"Unit-02 switching to external power." Asuka said after connecting the umbilical cable to the back of the Eva.

The Angel approached rapidly towards the carrier. "Now _that's_ one _big_ bastard…" Shinji said in awe when the angel exposed part of its back. "By the way, how are we gonna fight it?"

"The progressive knife should be enough!"

"That cardboard cutter? Are you serious?" The immense Angel landed heavily on the ship's main deck, crushing several airplanes. Unit-02 struggled with it after loosing the Prog. Knife, when suddenly, part of the deck gave away and the angel, along the Eva, sank in the ocean.

"Asuka, you can't fight underwater with the B-type equipment!" They heard Misato warning over the comm.

"You'll never know unless you try!" Asuka replied back confidently. The angel struggled to get the red Eva of its back through the submerged streets of what once was the city of Odawara.

"The cable is about to run out! Get ready for the Shock!" Misato warned. Seconds later the Eva was shacked violently, disengaging it from the Angel's body.

"Shit!" Cursed Asuka when the Angel got out of sight. "Where did it go?"

"There." Answered Shinji, pointing towards the Angel when it appeared once again on the screen, swimming rapidly in their direction.

"Great! I'll finish it of this time!" growled Asuka, pushing the robot's controls, willing it to move.

Nothing

"W-What the hell?" She yelped alarmed.

"B-type equipment, remember?"

"Well, what are you planning to do?"

"…Me?"

"You're the _famous _Third Child aren't you? _Do_ something!"

"And what do you want me to do?" He gave her an odd look, "Get out and push?"

"You stu…"

"Look out!"

"Wu…tha…A Mouth?" Asuka went pale when the Angel opened its massive fang-armed jaws.

"Meh…It's less freaky than the last one…"

"What?" The angel closed its immense jaws around the Eva, trapping it between its long teeth.

* * *

"I dunno why, but this reminds me when we went fishing last summer." Touji commented. "Remember that time, Ken?" 

"Yeah, it was nice, and I caught this huge…"

"That's it! Fishing!" Misato exclaimed. "Asuka! Shinji! Don't let the angel get away!" She closed the communication with Unit-02 before she could get any answer and turned towards the ship's captain with a serious look on her face.

* * *

"Shinji! Asuka! Do you understand the operation?" 

"Who told you that you could pilot _my _Eva?"

"Cut that out! Don't worry, we got it!"

"All ships opening the Kingston valve!"

"Ok! Reverse the cable!"

* * *

Both battle ships started to sink at the same time the Eva, along with the Angel, were reeled upward. 

"Get of my lap you pervert!" Said Asuka, hitting Shinji on his head.

"But if we don't open this thing's mouth before the ships reach us we're done for!" retorted Shinji.

"You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" replied Asuka, still trying to get him off her.

"Ah, of course, I'm using this 'live or die' situation while inside a giant tuna fish, which, is I might add, one of my worse nightmares, to try to feel you up." Shinji said deadpan. "What kind of _idiot_ do you think I am? Give me a break will ya?"

"Whatever…" She sighed, "Just don't get any funny ideas..." she said bending on top of him to reach the controls.

"Didn't I tell you that…"

"Just concentrate your thoughts ok?"

"Oh alright…"

The battle ships approached rapidly towards the still closed mouth of the Angel.

Unit-02 struggled, almost in vain to open the beast's jabs. _"Open… Open… Open…"_ Asuka though, pulling at the controls with all her strength, their time running out.

"_Open… Open… Open Open Open Open Open …"_ Shinji thought getting desperate, "Open Open Open Your stupid mouth already! You stupid overgrown tadpole!"

Unit-02's eye shone brightly. The robot pushed with all its might, opening the Angel's mouth just in time for the battle ships to ram into it, and fire directly at the core at its bottom.

A huge explosion rocked the nearby surviving ships; the Eva fortunately landed on top of the aircraft carrier and collapsed, completely out of power.

* * *

"Wow…" said Maya in awe at the huge teeth marks along Unit-02's body. 

"Yeah…" agreed Ritsuko, without looking up from her notes. "It's gonna take a while to repair it."

After the battle with the sixth Angel, Unit-02 had been transported to NERV Hq. "It's amazing it wasn't torn in half."

"Well, the Evas are very strong, but yeah, I guess they were lucky."

"By the way, do you know anything about the guy that came earlier today?" Asked Maya.

"Ah yes, He's Ryoji Kaji, he's an old friend of mine" said Ritsuko, "He's here to deliver something for the commander."

"Do you know what it could be ma'am?"

"Just some documents from the UN…" Ritsuko lied. "Well, we have a lot of work to do, lets go, Maya."

* * *

"Man! She was cute, but she was a r_eal_ bitch!" Touji said, relaxing in his desk. 

"She's not that bad…" Shinji objected.

"Did you forget that she pretty much _forced_ you to wear a _female_ plug suit?" Kensuke added, "I still have the pictures if you need a reminder."

"_It still hurts…"_ Shinji thought, "Shut up...besides, I don't see why _you_ are complaining."

"She slapped me! Twice!" Touji said offended.

"Well, you deserved it." Shinji retorted.

"What are y…?"

"Touji, I'm telling you this as a friend…" Shinji interrupted, putting a hand on the jock's shoulder, "You're an idiot."

"What?"

"Dude, you saw her panties _up close_!" Shinji shouted, "And she _only _slapped you! But _nooo_, you had to complain and take of you pants, embarrassing not only both me and Kensuke, but Misato as well!"

"True true…" Nodded Kensuke, "I mean, who with half a brain would like to see your sorry ass?"

* * *

"ACHOO!" 

"Bless you."

"Thanks…" sniffed Hikari, "I may be catching a cold; I better take care of it before it gets worse…Oh, here we are!" The brunette opened the class room door, allowing her and her companion to enter.

* * *

The new student wrote her name on the blackboard, under two horrified glances, one in disbelief and lot of curious ones. Once finished she spun around, her long, red hair following graciously behind. 

"Hi! I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu! Charm'd Huh?"

**To be continued…**

That was fun :)

Anyway, as always, thanks to StormOfDragons for prereading this thing.

Thanks to all of you who bother to read this thing too ;)

Any coment, opinion whatever, just let me know.

Till next time!


	7. C7

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...

**Chapter 07: **"Every! Body! Dance! Now!"

"Damn…" Shinji groaned while walking to school, his headphones firmly placed on his ears, sadly, he had forgotten his disc at home, so he was stuck with Tokyo-3's local radio shows. _"Oh please! Find something!"_ He begged, skipping through the different stations. Finally he found something to his liking; he was quickly getting lost in the music when a sharp slap on the back of his head brought him back to earth. "OW! What the…"

"Don't you _dare_ ignore like that me again!" Asuka said angrily. "I don't even know why I bother talking to you."

"Heh Heh Sorry…" Shinji replied nervously, still clueless about how to speak to the temperamental girl, "So, how do y…"

"She's here too, isn't she?"

"Err…who?"

"Are you doing it on purpose or is it just natural." Asuka grumbled sarcastically. "I'm talking 'bout the First Child of course!"

"Oh Rei, well yeah, she's…err…down there!" He said pointing towards the girl, who was sitting near the tennis court, reading a book. _"Heh. She doesn't know what she's getting into."_ Shinji sighed mildly amused when Asuka went towards the blue-haired girl, followed by the students that had gathered around them.

"Hey Shinji!" called Kensuke as he and Touji approached him from within the mob.

"Hey Guys!" He replied back. "Say, what are you doing so early here?"

"Oh nothing" answered Kensuke, "Just taking care of some business."

"Would you look at that..." Touji said after watching Asuka getting ignored by Rei "I wonder if only weirdoes are chosen to be Eva pilots."

"That's a good guess." Chuckled Shinji. "If that's the case, I think Kensuke would be a good choice!"

"I'll take that as a compliment." Smiled the bespectacled boy. "By the way, we're going to the arcades later today after school, are you coming?"

"Sure! I'll be…" Shinji was interrupted by the blaring of the emergency alarm, "…There…Damn it!"

* * *

"I can't believe it…" Asuka whined in her pilot seat. Since the last battle had damaged the city's defences, both Units 01 and 02 where being transported to the shore to stop the Angel before it reached dry land. "My first battle in Japan and I have to drag _him_ along? That's not fair!"

"Hey! It's always nice to have someone to cover your back!" Shinji said through the intercom.

"Now listen _Third Child!_" Asuka growled back. "If you appreciate your good health you will _not_ get in my way. Got that!"

"Geez! Relax a bit will ya?" Shinji said before closing the connection. "Somebody should tell her the meaning of team work." Seconds later Units 01 and 02 where dropped by the air carriers. "I'll never get used to this…" Shinji muttered after landing his Eva on the beach, a few meters away from Unit-02.

"Shinji concentrate!" Misato warned. "The target may attack any second now!"

An explosion a few miles away from the coast announced the arrival of the new angel.

"Cover my back Shinji!" Said Asuka through the inter comm. moving her Eva for the attack.

"Say what?" Shinji replied stunned.

"Where are your manners?" Asuka answered back. "Ladies first y'know!"

"This isn't the time to be a show off!" Shinji shouted back firing a volley at the enemy.

"Charge!" Asuka moved forwards, using a few abandoned buildings in her path to impulse her Eva towards the Angel. Unit-02 jumped high into the air, and with a swift motion of its halberd, sliced the Angel in half. "Well, what do you think of _that_?" The redhead smirked proudly. "A battle should be clean and elegant. Without waste."

The red Eva started to move back from the Angel when its parts started to spasm, and suddenly, each half formed a smaller version of the original being. Shinji watched from the shore line. A thoughtful expression on his face. "…Err…hmm…That's bad…isn't it?" He muttered before a blinding flash engulfed his vision.

* * *

After the battle, both pilots had been rescued and they were now on a meeting in one of the briefing rooms. "Today at 10:58:15 A.M Unit-01 was attacked by target Alpha." Maya droned as the main screen showed a massive Eva shaped hole punched into the mountain "Twenty seconds later, Unit-02 was stopped by target Beta." The screen now showed the red Eva keeled over with its rear stuck straight into the air. "We have a comment from the Project E's chair person."

"Pathetic…"

"This is all _your_ fault!" Shouted Asuka jumping from her seat. "You totally screwed up my debut battle!"

"So let's see…" Shinji said munching on some snacks he got on the way from the locker rooms. "_You_ were to one jumping around like you owned the place and _you_ were the one who sliced the thing in half…and it's _my_ fault? Do you even hear yourself?"

"_You_ were supposed to back _me_ up! You pathetic excuse of a combat pilot!"

"You didn't want any help in the first place!"

"That's nothing but an excuse!"

"What?"

"At 11:03 A.M, NERV abandoned the operation and transferred command to the UN's Secondary Force." Continued Maya; interrupting the fight between the pilots.

"We've been humiliated…" grumbled sub-commander Fuyutsuki.

"At 11:05 A.M. the UN made an attack with an N2 mine."

"Now well have to redraw the map…"

"They succeeded in burning off 28 of the target's structural substance."

"So I guess they killed it…" Asuka mumbled, watching the half burned Angels on the screen.

"That's only temporal." Corrected the sub-commander. "The next attack is just a matter of time."

"Well, at least we have some time to come up with a plan." Added Kaji. "We couldn't ask for more."

"Listen you two!" Fuyutsuki stood up, addressing to the pilots. "Just what do you think your job is?"

"Pilot the Evas?" replied Asuka tentatively.

"No!" Retorted the sub-commander. "Your job is to beat the Angels, not to make a fool of NERV like you did here!" Fuyutsuki scolded before turning around and leaving the room.

"Why is everyone so _angry_ here?" pouted Asuka once they turned on the lights.

"Because adults have a thing for credibility." Answered Kaji.

"Not to mention that we screwed up." Shinji shrugged, getting a glare from the red-head. "Where's Misato anyway?"

"As the person in charge, she has to take care of any repercussions of the battles."

"So she has a lot of paper work to do now huh?" Shinji said standing up and stretching a bit. "And that means a free afternoon!"

* * *

"Damn, today's _definitely_ not my day…" Shinji muttered while walking back home after spending the afternoon with Touji and Kensuke and some other guys from school. "I'm gonna kill those morons!" He grumbled remembering the events at the game centre…

------------Flashback------------

The mall. One of the few entertainment places in the fortress like city that was Tokyo-3. And, like any normal mall, it had an arcade, a fact that most kids were thankful for. And Shinji Ikari, designated pilot of Unit-01 was not the exception, as he spent most of his free time in there, to the point that he have gotten very good at most of the games. However, there was one machine; one horrible machine that he just _knew_ was inspired by some sadistic torture device from medieval ages. He downright _hated_ it, and he was sure, the feeling was mutual.

"I said let me go already!"

"Stop moving so much!" Touji said holding Shinji from his shoulders. "You're only embarrassing yourself!"

"Yeah man! It's just a game!" Added Kensuke holding the wriggling pilot by his ankles.

The fact that his so called friends were dragging him to this 'game' wasn't helping his feeling of uneasiness. "Let! Me! Go! I hate that thing!"

"Oh! C'mon! Everyone likes Dance Dance Revolution!" replied Touji after he and Kensuke wrestled Shinji onto the Dance pad.

"I told you I can't play this thing!"

"Don't worry, it's easy!" Smiled one of the girls that had tagged along. "Here, I'll show you how."

Shinji sighed as the girl inserted the coins in the machine and selected a song. It had a slow beat, and the arrows were appearing at a relatively slow pace. _"Hey! Maybe this thing isn't so bad after all!" _ Suddenly, the music changed, and soon, Shinji was missing almost all the arrows. _"Spoke too soon!"_

"Oh God…" One of the guys that had been watching the display winced when Shinji tripped and landed with his crotch connecting directly with one of the game's corners.

"Isn't that a weird way to fall?" Asked another of the girls.

"Yeah." The boy agreed. "That only makes it worse…"

"Shouldn't you help him up?"

"Nah…Ken and Touji got that covered." He shrugged as the two remaining stooges helped their fallen comrade to his feet.

----------End flashback------------

"I'm home!" Shinji called once he arrived at his apartment. "Heh…As if Pen-Pen is gonna answer me…" Shinji walked almost mechanically towards his room. "Man…I need a na-a ARGH!" He tripped and landed face first on the floor. "Ouch…What the…!" He looked around and finally noticed the piles of boxes all over his room. "What the hell is all this crap doing in my room?"

"Don't be so rude, these are my personal belongings."

Shinji turned abruptly finding none other than Asuka looming over the door, wearing only a loose yellow T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "…Ok, let me rephrase that…What the hell is all your crap doing in my room?" He shouted standing up. "Where is all my stuff too? And what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, it happens that Misato decided to live with _me_. Which is the most logical choice considering my superior abilities." Asuka said as a matter of factly. "So of course, that means that _you_ are no longer needed ´round here." She added pointing towards a cardboard box and a couple of plastic bags near a trash bin.

"Ok, now that's just mean…"

"It's not that I'm all that happy with this y'know, cuz I'd rather live with Kaji" She added dreamingly. "And these Japanese houses are just _so_ small! And why none of the bedrooms have any locks? I don't get it."

"That's because we Japanese put the needs of others before our own."

"Misato!"

"How's it going?" The woman cheered, holding up a mini stereo over her shoulder. "Good to see that you two are getting along well!"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you blind?"

"Ok, let's get ready for your new training."

"Say what?"

* * *

"Hey Ritsu." Greeted Misato entering the command bridge. "How're you doing?"

"Pretty well." Responded the doctor. "I'm just running some tests on the Magi."

"Nothing serious?"

"Oh no, just some routine checks." Ritsuko turned towards her friend. "What about you? How's the Coordination training going?"

"So so." Misato answered, "They're getting the hang of it a little faster than I thought; they're starting to talk at the same time now, its kinda creepy." She chuckled. "They've been mimicking some of their movements too…"

"But…?" The doctor inquired.

"The dance routine…" Misato sighed. "It's not improving at all; sometimes I think Shinji has two left legs."

"Don't you mean _feet_?" Ritsuko corrected half amused.

"In his case it's the whole leg."

"And what about Asuka?"

"Well, she got the steps pretty easily, but she moves way to fast for Shinji." Said Misato taking a sip from her coffee. "I think she forgets that she isn't the only one in all this."

"Well, you have to fix it." Replied the doctor turning back to her work. "You know very well what's at stake here."

"Yes, I know…" Sighed the captain leaning back on her chair. "Say, where's Rei now?" She asked after a little while.

"She's at school, why?"

"Could you give her a call and tell her that I'll pick her up? I've got an idea."

* * *

"I hope this works…" Misato thought out loud while she and her blue-haired companion entered the apartment building's elevator.

"I don't see why it shouldn't Captain." Rei replied.

"I dunno, just wondering…" The woman said back. "And you don't have to call me 'Captain' all the time, Misato's fine."

"That wouldn't be a proper behaviour towards a commanding officer, Captain."

"Whatever…" Misato sighed. When they finally reached the apartment, they were faced with two freaked out stooges, an embarrassed school girl and two slightly annoyed Eva pilots. "Oh? Hello there!"

"Excuse Miss Misato." Said Touji after regaining his composture. "Care to explain all this?"

* * *

"Gee, you should've told us that sooner!" Kensuke said after Misato explained to them the operation.

"So, how's the whole coordination thing going?" Asked Hikari, who had Pen-Pen happily sitting on her lap.

"Well…" Misato sighed when the dancing pads announced yet another error.

"Ok! That's it!" Asuka yelled tossing her headphones. "There's _no_ way I could ever _sink_ to the level of this badly animated _turnip_!" She shouted pointing toward Shinji who laid face first on the dance pad. "This idea is just _not_ possible!"

"So, you're giving up?" Asked Misato un-impressed by the red-head's tantrum.

"As if you have anyone else." Asuka smirked arrogantly.

"Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Could you give it a try?"

"Yes ma'am." Rei stood up, and after picking up the headset Asuka tossed a moment ago and positioned on the pad next to Shinji. Soon the music started again and both of them where moving along in perfect synch.

"So, what do you think?" Said Misato taking a sip from her beer. "Should I alter the operation to pair up those two instead?"

Asuka watched in disbelief how Rei and Shinji mirrored every one of their movements, even the mistakes. "No way! I can't stand this!" She stormed off the apartment, not willing to endure any more humiliation. "How dares that Misato! Making this look like it's all my fault!" Asuka strolled out of the building and went towards a little convenience store that was nearby. _"And that…that, _Wondergirl_ just coming out and…and…ARGH!" _ She wandered off to the cold drinks, opened the fridge door and crouched in front of it, letting the cool air wash over her for a while.

"Hey."

"Just shut up…" She grumbled, not bothering to look back at Shinji. "I know, I have no choice…I've gotta do it."

* * *

"No matter what! I'll put Rei _and_ Misatoto shame!"

After buying some snacks, both Asuka and Shinji wandered off through the city, and ended up in the same viewing place Misato brought him on his second day on Tokyo-3. "Don't you think you're over reacting?"

"Don't be so simplistic!" She scolded taking a bite of her sandwich. "This is a matter of honour now! I have to _avenge_ my pride!"

Shinji could help but smile at her drive. "Well, let's go then!" He said standing up from the bench they were on. "We don't have time to lose!"

She gave him a sharp look. "Are you implying that I need _your_ help?"

"Look…" He sighed, "Like it or not, we're in this _together_, so we have to do this together, like a team, right?" He smiled extending a hand to her.

"I guess you're right…this time…" She took his hand and stepped of the bench. "You better not screw up all this…again."

"Oh! C'mon!"

* * *

"C'mon Shinji!" After they returned to the apartment, they re-started training on their dance routine. "Put more work on it!"

"I'm trying!" Shinji said trying to keep up with Asuka's moves. "Could you slo…ah…ARGH!" He tripped, landing on Asuka's pad. "…Ouch…heh, that didn't hurt that much…"

"It will if you don't move _now_…"

"What?" He raised his head and he went pale after noticing that he not only fell on her pad, but also between her legs. "A-Asuka…?"

"Ikari…" She growled, her face was flustered and her eyes filled with fury.

"_Ah crap…"_ He gulped just before the fuming red-head's knee collided with his head.

**--Two days before the attack--**

"T-Tha-tha-that's all folks!"

After being training all morning, the two pilots were resting a little while watching TV. "I'm tired of this childish stuff." Asuka grumbled changing the channel.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Protested Shinji changing the channel back.

"I don't wanna see those stupid cartoons!" She replied, changing it once more time.

"And I don't wanna see those stupid soap operas!" They continued fighting and changing channels back and forth until a sudden buzzing sound interrupted their argument, they turned back to the TV to find it blank with little tower of smoke coming from its back. "Oh huh…"

"What was that sound?" Called Misato from her room.

"…I think we're…" he turned only to see a little glimpse of red entering the bathroom, "…Screwed…"

"What the hell did you do to my TV?"

"_Ah crap…"_

--**One day for the attack**--

After many hours of hard work, both Asuka and Shinji had succeeded in mirroring every one of their movements, from eating and doing the laundry, to brushing their teeth and even sleeping in the same way.

However, there was still the dance routine. "Ok Shinji, this is our last chance!"

"I'm ready." He nodded to Pen-Pen to start up the music.

They started dancing, each one of their movements in synch with one another, and when the final note ended, both teens were standing on their pads, in the very same pose, a perfect score displaying on their pads' screens.

"We made it! Yeah!"

"It was about time." Asuka agreed, trying to hiding how excited she was about it too. "I'm gonna take a bath, if you dare to…"

"…Look I'm dead. Yeah, I know…"

"Damn right!" she said walking to her room to get her toiletries. "We don't want a reprise of last time, now do we?"

"No we don't." He cringed watching her disappear into the bathroom. Seeing that there was nothing to do left for him, he went to his room to get his Discman and a comic.

"Hey, where's Misato anyway?" Asuka asked once she got out of the bath.

"At work." He answered from the living room where they have been forced to sleep the whole week. "She called earlier; she'll be there all night."

"So…we'll be alone all night huh?"

Shinji looked up from his magazine to see Asuka taking her futon back to her room.

"Huh?"

"This is the impenetrable wall of Jericho _Third Child_." She tossed the futon on the floor and looked back at him with an annoyed frown. "If you dare to step beyond this door you're a dead man. And now good night…_child_."

"Y'know. Me being four months older doesn't make you the child?"

"Just go to sleep damn it!"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"_Off all the nights I could've gotten insomnia it had to be on this one…"_ Shinji lied wide awake on his futon, still on the living room. "…why am I still here anyway? Maybe I should…Huh?" He heard a soft noise from behind him, _"Oh, it's just Asuka going to the bathroom…" _He sighed hearing the red-head walk down the hall and then the toilet flush once. He closed his eyes trying in vain to conciliate sleep, when a he heard a sudden rapid movement right next of him, as if someone had fallen there. _"What w…eeep!"_ He opened his eyes and found Asuka asleep right next to him. "A-Asuka?" He whispered. _"Yep, she's completely asleep."_ He noticed how peaceful and relaxed her face looked. _"If only she was like that when she's awake…nah…that would be boring…"_ His eyes then rested on her lips, on how soft they looked, _"Almost inviting…"_ he slowly inched his face towards hers, _"I can't believe it…" _Her reflection on his eyes growing as he got closer. _"I'm gonna steal a kiss from her, I'm a playboy!"_

"…ama…"

"Huh?"

"…Mama…" She muttered in her sleep, a lonely tear slid through her cheek.

"I'm a bastard…" He stood up and went to sleep on the other side of the room, not before covering her with his blanket.

* * *

"The target has entered the mountains!"

The main screen in the command bridge showed the now recovered full angel making its way towards the city.

"Remember the moves Shinji!" Asuka said through the Intercom. "Full power…"

"Maximum performance!" Both Evas where already on their launching platforms, waiting or their signal to start the operation.

"Target has reached ground zero!"

"Detaching power cords!"

"Eva Launch!"

The mechas were catapulted high into the sky; each Eva tossed its lance towards the Angel slicing it in half. Both Units got their weapons and started their attack on each part, Unit-01 with a pallet riffle and Unit-02 with a proton cannon. The twin angels countered with their cross beams, but both robots back flipped out of the way to a metal barrier, then the angels used their AT-fields to propel themselves towards the mechas, but both Evas jumped out of the way before the barrier was turned to shreds. The city's battle turrets then shot all of their fire power towards the angels, then the Evas moved in to attack, with a low punch and a roundhouse kick they forced the angels to fuse into one again, The Units jumped high into the air to finish the angel of with a diving kick, but just as they were about to deliver the final blow, the Angel separated once again, making the Evas stumble heavily into the pavement.

"Shinji! Asuka! There are two power cords a few blocks from each of you, get to them now!"

They rushed towards the power cords just before the twin angels resumed their attack, the orange one blasting Unit-02 with its cross bean while its green counterpart moving to attack Unit-01 directly.

"It looks like they aren't synched anymore!" Said Shinji while dodging the attacks of his angel.

"Nah…You think?" Asuka retorted while evading her angel's beans and countering with blasts from her twin rocket launchers.

"Always so courteous…" Shinji muttered as he tried to stab the angel with his prog knife. "Dammit…Stay still!" he shouted when the angel used its AT-Field to propel itself into the air. "What's it doing now?" He wondered when the angel didn't come down. "So that's how it is now huh!" he readied his Eva when he noticed that it was preparing to shoot its cross bean, he gasped however, when he noticed that it wasn't pointing at him. "Wha…Move!"

Asuka didn't have time to react when her Eva was tackled out of the way by Unit-01. "What the hell are yo…Shinji!" She gasped when the purple Eva was blasted to the pavement by the two angels combined attack, "Shinji? You Ok? Shinji?" She felt a little relieved when she saw Unit-01 slowly stand up. "Hey! Are you ok? Answer me you dolt!" Both Shinji and his Eva's head where bowed and their arms were limp to their sides. _"Is he…crying? That weakling is crying?"_

She wondered when he started trembling a little. "Listen up you idiot! This isn't the time to…"

"HeHeHeHaHa…"

"S-Shinji?" Asuka gulped when he raised his head and she saw his twisted smile. "Shinji are y…"

"…Come on…" He hissed raising his Eva's arms to its side. "…Come on…I know you want to…" The Eva's palms turned upwards, teasing the Angels to attack it once more, an invitation that they didn't refuse and they blasted the purple robot with all their might.

"Status on Unit-01!" Shouted Misato.

"Unit is operational, receiving strange signals, Pilot synch rate is oscillating!" Reported one of the techs.

"So it happened again..." muttered Ritsuko quietly.

"W-where did he go?" Wondered Asuka when the smoke cleared and Unit-01 was nowhere to be seen. A feral growl called her and the angel's attention, on top of a building Unit-01 was crouching as if it was a gargoyle, the beast roared once again and jumped to one of the angel's halves before it could do anything to react, the rogue Eva graved its prey by the face, digging its fingers deep into its flesh and lifted it up into the air, it kept the Angel hanging up for a few seconds before starting pummelling it.

"Why isn't the other half attacking?" wondered Misato when the other angel was wriggling along with the hits its other half was receiving. "I though they weren't synched anymore."

"Their movements may not" Answered Ritsuko, "But they're still part of the same being, so they share the same mind. What happens to one, the other will feel it too"

"_What's he doing?"_ Asuka wondered watching Unit-01 hitting mercilessly on its target and Shinji laughing manically. "He's not hitting the core; he's hitting _everything_ but the core!"

Suddenly, the Ea stopped hitting the Angel, it slowly moved its arm backwards as far as it could and stayed in that position for a few seconds. "Suffer!" Unit-01 let go of its prey's face and rammed its fist violently into Angel's core with such force that the shockwave also shattered the windows of the near by buildings. The Eva grabbed the pained Angel's arm before it could fall to the ground and tossed it towards its also aching twin. Both beasts stayed on their feet for a while before Unit-01 tackled them to the ground forcing them to fuse once more.

"Shinji! What the H…"

"Shoot!" He interrupted grabbing the half fused Angel with its cracked cores facing Unit-02. "Shoot!"

"You'll get caught in the explosion!"

"Shoot!" He repeated, struggling to keep the Angel in position. "Shoot!"

"But…!"

"Attack! Attack now you coward!"

"Don't…call me…a coward!" Asuka fired the rocket launchers destroying the Angel in an immense explosion that obliterated the nearby forest and part of the city.

"First armour layer exposed!" Back at the command bridge everyone was in an uproar after the explosion knocked some of the systems. "Connection with the surface re-established!"

"What happened to Shinji?" Misato asked to Maya. "Is he alright?"

"Unit-01 is…"

"That's the way! Uhu! Aha! I like it! Uhu! Aha!"

"…fully operational…" Everyone watched dumfounded the robot's crude attempt to dance in the middle of the crater and its pilot's so called singing through the inter comm.

"Looks like everything went well, didn't it?" Said Kaji getting an annoyed glare from Misato, who decided to not answer him. _"Maybe too well…"_

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Asuka approached angrily with after the smoke cleared. "First you go crazy! Then you play the hero! Then you insult me! And now you're doing…doing…_this_! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh C'mon! Can't I be happy we won?" He replied, "And you need to relax a bit y'know, you've been quite a pain in the ass lately."

"Jerk…" She grumbled, "But that didn't stop you from trying to kiss me last night!"

"You didn't complain…"

"W-W-Hat did you say!"

Shinji took a step back when Unit-02 stepped closer to him and raised its gun. "C-calm down Asuka! I didn't do anything! I stopped half...err...Didn't do anything!"

"…Ikari…"

"Ah crap!"

Back at the command bridge everyone was amused at the pilots' antics except for Fuyutsuki who could only mutter in frustration. "…I'm too old for this…"

**To be continued…**

Thanx to everyone who reads this thing and Dark Machine for prereading it. And as always, any comment, opinions, etc. just let me know. And if i have time i'll answer them too, just don't expect them soon for i have limited Internet access. Anyway, till nex time!


End file.
